INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

EU Aid

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with European Union counterparts about the (a) allocation and (b) delivery of EU aid to third world countries; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: On 23 November, the Secretary of State attended the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels, which discussed both the issues of aid allocation and its delivery.
	DFID continues to work for agreement that a much larger share of EC aid of higher quality should be allocated to low income countries where it will have the greatest impact on poverty reduction. Over the past two years, EC spending has been moving in the right direction, with 56 per cent. of aid being spent in low-income countries in 2003. A further re-balancing of aid is required if the Millennium Development Goals are to be met and the UK has called for the EC to spend 70 per cent. of its aid in low-income countries by 2008. This proportion would still recognise the needs of the poor in middle-income countries. It remains clear from the Council discussion that a number of other member states do not subscribe to this view. After a discussion, the Council Conclusions invited the Commission to find ways to increase focus on the poorest, with a specific focus on Africa.
	EC aid has gone through serious reforms since it launched its reform programme back in 2000. DFID welcomes this and recognises important progress in terms of speedier delivery, more local capacity in the field and improved portfolio performance overall. Current reforms have focused on qualitative improvements. DFID believes there is a case for continuing reforms also under the new Commission, but with a focus on quality and impact of EC aid. The 23 November Council called upon the new Commission to undertake an assessment of EC External Assistance and to identify what follow up to the Reform Process is required focusing on quality, impact and results.

Falluja

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Developmentwhat assistance his Department is giving to Iraqi civilians remaining in Falluja.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Interim Iraqi Government (IIG) is leading on humanitarian and reconstruction work in Falluja and has established a central team to co-ordinate its assistance to the people of Fallujah. The UK is in close contact with the IIG, and DFID is providing technical advice to its Fallujah coordination team.
	The IIG and the Multi-National Force operating in Fallujah have reported that there is no humanitarian crisis so far and humanitarian visits to Falluja by British military officials confirm this assessment. The Iraqi Ministry of Health, Iraqi Security Forces, and the Multi-National Force have reported that their stockpiles of humanitarian supplies have provided for the immediate needs of Falluja's civilians. The IIG and Iraqi Red Crescent trucks containing humanitarian supplies are entering the city and distributing food, water, and medical supplies. Work to clear rubble and restore basic services is also underway.
	DFID is maintaining close contact with the IIG, with representatives of the Multi-National Force, and with humanitarian organisations on the ground, to address the needs of Falluja's population. DFID is ready to respond positively to requests for humanitarian help or further advice in Falluja or elsewhere.

Falluja

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what information he has received on the (a) location and (b) humanitarian condition of Iraqi civilians who left Falluja in advance of the US bombing.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Iraqi Interim Government (IIG), together with its humanitarian agency partners, is monitoring the location and condition of Falluja's displaced population. The IIG has reported that the main concentrations of Falluja's civilians are located in Ameria, Habania, Saqlawiyah, and Gaana, with a significant number also in Baghdad.
	The IIG judges that there is no humanitarian crisis in Falluja or the surrounding area.The Iraqi Ministry of Health (MoH) assessment teams have visited the four areas around Falluja where it considers the main concentrations of Falluja's displaced population to be located. The MoH teams report that most of the displaced citizens are staying with family and friends, some are in schools, mosques, and government buildings, and a small number are in tents. Pre-positioning of supplies has helped to provide for immediate needs, and the IIG and humanitarian agencies are continuing to deliver essential food, water, blankets and medical supplies. The IIG plans to send public health teams and medical staff into the four main areas to address potential health and hygiene concerns until it is safe for the displaced families to return to Falluja. DFID is providing technical advice to the IIG Falluja co-ordination team and is ready to respond positively to further requests for humanitarian help or advice in Falluja and the surrounding area.

Falluja

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance his Department is giving to the Iraqi civilians who left Fallujah in advance of the US bombing.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Interim Iraqi Government (IIG) is leading on assistance to the citizens of Falluja who left the city before military action took place. The IIG has established a ministerial team to co-ordinate its response, which includes supplying food, water and medical supplies to Falluja's displaced population, and planning for their safe return to the city. DFID is providing advice to the IIG Falluja team and is ready to respond positively to requests for further humanitarian help or advice in Falluja and the surrounding area.

Jamaica

George Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what studies his Department has undertaken into the effects that the European Commission's proposed price reductions on sugar will have on his Department's existing programmes in Jamaica.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is currently reviewing the composition of its Jamaica programme, developing in more detail, the areas identified in the Regional Assistance Plan for the Caribbean. This assessment will be undertaken in discussion with the Government of Jamaica and in light of the studies on the potential impact of sugar price changes.

Jamaica

George Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the impact that a three-year transition period and a price reduction on sugar would have on the sugar industry in Jamaica;
	(2)  what studies his Department has undertaken into the effects that the European Commission's proposed price reductions on sugar would have on the sugar industry in (a) Jamaica and (b) the wider Caribbean region.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID recognises that the reform of the EU sugar regime will have a significant impact on the sugar industry in Jamaica and the Caribbean, and hence on many communities already among the poorest in the region.
	The impact of EU reform will vary between countries, and will depend crucially on the policies that Caribbean countries adopt with regard to their sugar industries. The Government of Jamaica are bringing together representatives of the Government, the sugar industry, academia, trade unions, and other civil society organisations to identify possible future scenarios for Jamaica's agricultural sector. The exercise will develop a relevant and practical action plan for the future, which will be passed to the Government of Jamaica for consideration and action.
	The impact of EU reform will also depend on the transitional assistance available. On a parallel track, DFID is working to ensure that the EU offers the most effective possible package of transitional assistance.
	In order to help inform the debate and ensure the impact on developing countries is taken sufficiently into consideration, DFID commissioned a study last year with LMC International and Oxford Policy Management, 'Addressing the Impact of Preference Erosion in Sugar on Developing Countries'. The study is divided into two sections. The first part assesses the economic and social impact on the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) Sugar Protocol countries of the various reform scenarios suggested by the European Commission. The second part of the study assesses alternative options for addressing the impact of preference erosion in sugar. The purpose of this analysis was to identify various options for debate by the ACP and the EU.
	DFID has recently commissioned two further pieces of work on this issue: from LMC International, 'EU Sugar Reform: the Implications for the Development of Least Developed Countries (LDC)s' and from the Overseas Development Institute: 'Forthcoming changes in EU sugar/banana markets: a menu of options for an effective EU transitional assistance package'. This latter report should help those countries affected by reform determine their priorities for a transitional package. It also includes some analysis of alternative uses for sugar.
	DFID is now following up this work by commissioning a series of country profiles for those Caribbean countries that will be affected by the change in the EU trade regime. The principle objective of these profiles is to identify a specific menu of options for an effective competitive fund package, which addressees the impact of sugar reform at both the national and the household level.

Snow Cover (Everest/Nepal)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Developmentwhat estimate he has made of the percentage of snow cover on Mount Everest in (a) 1953, (b) 1983 and (c) 2003; and what assessment he has made of the impact on Nepal of changes in the level of snow cover.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Quantifying the change in percentage snow cover on Mount Everest from 1953 to 2003 is difficult because there have been few surveys of the mountain's snow-covered area over the period in question and none of these surveys has been continual. DFID has recently funded a research project on Snow and Glacier Aspects of Water Resources Management in the Himalayas, 2001–2004 (SAGARMATHA) that undertook analysis of temperature data and developed a predictive model to assess impacts of changes. The analysis revealed a trend of increasing annual average temperature between 1961–1996 of around +0.07o C/year across Nepal, while data from the 15 highest gauges for the period 1976–96, at elevations of between 1800 and 4100 metres, showed an upward trend of +0.1o C/year. If maintained, such trends will cause the snow-covered area in the Nepal Himalaya to recede.
	Photographs taken of the mountain since the 1950s, and other anecdotal evidence, do suggest a general reduction both in the snow-covered area and the spatial extent of the mountain's glaciers, but with the snow-covered area varying within each year and from year to year, it is not possible to provide definitive figures from these for the percentage change.
	The impacts of a reduced snow-covered area are many. There is a greater tendency for glaciers to retreat resulting in glacial lakes being formed behind unstable moraine dams. Consequently a build-up of melt-water and/or glacier surges behind these structures increases the threat of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), several of which have been reported in Nepal. The reduction in snow and ice cover also has potential impacts on water resources availability and use downstream: it is likely to lead to a temporary increase followed, ultimately, by a reduction in river flows. Increased river flows, resulting from more glacial ice being exposed for melting, could increase the incidence of flooding and landslides; whereas reduced river flows, as the glacial ice disappears, could affect agricultural productivity, fisheries, hydropower generation, industry, domestic water supply, and transportation.
	The SAGARMATHA project sought to quantify the timing and extent of these impacts across the Himalayan region. It concluded that, while glaciers were retreating throughout the Himalaya, the threat to future water availability was greatest in the west. In the eastern Himalaya changes in the melt-water from glaciers has a relatively small effect. The project's models forecast that flows in eastern Nepal would gradually increase for several decades but would eventually diminish. In the west, river flows were forecast to diminish rapidly over the next few decades, which will be a concern for both India and Pakistan.

Water/Sanitation Projects

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans his Department has to work with (a) other donors and (b) main partner governments to establish sector wide approaches in water and sanitation.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: holding answer 29 November 2004
	The Department for International Development (DFID) works with its partners to support governments to achieve the Millennium development goals, including the water and sanitation goals. Where appropriate, DFID provides Poverty Reduction Budgetary Support, which helps countries implement their Poverty Reduction Strategies. Poverty Reduction Strategies are produced following a consultation process within the country concerned, and between governments and donors. Water and sanitation are a key part of these discussions.
	Where DFID does not provide all or any of its assistance through Poverty Reduction Budgetary Support, DFID may work with others towards sector wide approaches in water and sanitation. This will depend on the specific situation in a country, including whether water and sanitation are agreed priorities for DFID support. DFID is also promoting improved donor co-ordination in the water and sanitation sector, under the European Union Water Initiative.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Chernobyl

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farms were affected in 1986 by fallout from Chernobyl; on how many farms restrictions remain in place as a result; and when she expects the effects to be eradicated from farms in Wales.

Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
	This is a devolved issue and the Food Standards Agency for Wales has responsibility for this area.

Fisheries

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the term "common policy in the sphere of operation of fisheries", specified in the Maastricht Treaty, was replaced by the term "exclusive competence to manage marine life" in the proposed constitutional treaty for the European Union; and what assessment she has made of the consequences for the UK of the change.

Ben Bradshaw: The conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy has been an exclusive competence of the Community since 1979. This competence is derived from a combination of the EC Treaty and the language negotiated in 1973 in the UK Act of Accession and endorsed by all the then member states. This has been confirmed by the European Court of Justice.
	The new Constitutional Treaty has been drafted to reflect this position and does not extend competence in fisheries.

Foot and Mouth

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the (a) outcome of her Department's negotiations with the European Commission in respect of the request for financial aid to assist in the management of the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 and (b) the comments by the European Commission on the handling of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 November 2004
	The Department has recently concluded its negotiations with the European Commission and as a result the United Kingdom will receive a total of £350 million in co-financing for the 2001 outbreak.
	The United Kingdom will continue to work with the European Commission and other member states to ensure that the lessons learned from the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001 are applied.

Nickel-cadmium Batteries

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the impact of a total ban on the sale and use of nickel-cadmium batteries on employment in the United Kingdom.

Elliot Morley: Neither the European Commission proposal for a Directive on Batteries and Accumulators nor the European Parliament's amendments at First Reading envisage a total ban on the sale and use of nickel-cadmium batteries. A partial ban has, however, been suggested during current negotiations on the proposed Directive, and is the subject of an extended impact assessment by the Council. When participating in negotiations, the Government weigh all relevant factors, including impacts on cost, employment, customer choice, and environmental protection, in consultation with business and other interested parties.

Nickel-cadmium Batteries

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to improve collection and recycling rates for nickel-cadmium batteries.

Elliot Morley: The proposed EU Directive on Batteries and Accumulators, currently being negotiated, contains collection and recycling targets for portable and industrial nickel-cadmium batteries. If these targets appear in an adopted Directive, it is likely that a range of approaches to achieving them will be necessary. We will develop these in consultation with industry and other parties, taking account of best practice, cost, and environmental impact.

Offshore Dredging

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that offshore dredging of marine aggregates does not adversely affect fish spawning.

Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply.
	No offshore dredging of marine aggregates can take place without first receiving an environmental consent called a favourable 'Government View' from the First Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister. His decisions on Government View applications are only reached following wide publicity and consultation, including with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which, in turn, consults the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; the Sea Fisheries Inspectorate and local fishermen. Applications are subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment and must be accompanied by an Environmental Statement. Only if he is satisfied that there will be no significant effect on the marine environment, including, if appropriate, effects on fish spawning, will the First Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, consider issuing a favourable Government View. Consented proposals are subject to conditions relating to mitigation and monitoring measures; where appropriate, these may relate to fish spawning.

Unsolicited Departmental Mail

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list consultation documents and mailings that were sent unsolicited by her Department or its agencies in the most recent 12 months for which information is available that contained general information; how many of each publication were printed; and what the cost was per copy.

Alun Michael: During the period we issued 117 consultation documents. These include some very specific and narrow proposals regarding animal welfare, farm products and secondary legislation to the transposition of European legislation, amendments to environmental regulations and draft guidance consequent on domestic legislation. They also include major initiatives such as the Clean Neighbourhoods consultation, implementation of CAP reform, Rights of Way and Pollution Control. I am placing a copy of the full list in the Library of the House of Commons. It is also available on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk/ corporate/consult/default.asp. Information on the cost per copy of each mailing is not available and to establish the information would incur the Department in a disproportionate cost. The extent of the circulation will depend on the issues involved and the range of people and organisations likely to be affected by it.

Veterinary Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many overseas temporary veterinary officers were employed in the public sector to assist in her Department's veterinary work in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department does not hold statistical data for overseas Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVIs) for the period outside of Foot and Mouth disease. During this disease, the Number of Overseas TVIs who were appointed to assist the State Veterinary Service (SVS) was 706.
	The figures do not include vets employed outside the SVS whether in Defra or other Government Departments.
	Temporary Veterinary Inspectors are appointed to carry out specific functions on behalf of Defra. They are not employed by the Department.
	These figures are referenced from: Smith, L (2002) Foot and Mouth Disease: Veterinary Resource Issues. State Veterinary Journal 12 (1) 3–5.

Warm Front Scheme

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discretion her Department allows Warm Front Scheme managers to (a) repeat grants for households which have already benefited from Warm Front and (b) fast track exceptionally vulnerable households.

Elliot Morley: Under the current scheme applicants are entitled to assistance once at the same address. However, in cases where heating measures are not recommended the Scheme Managers will review any further application within a twelve month period.
	A Fuel Poverty Action Plan, including proposals for the future development of Warm Front is expected to be published shortly.
	We are currently funding a project to assess the feasibility of fast-tracking applicants with particular medical conditions to the scheme. The project is being delivered by the National Energy Action, the Warm Front Scheme Managers and local health practitioners. Results will be reported to the Department during 2005.

Warm Front Scheme

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what mechanisms are in place to monitor private landlords' compliance with the requirement to freeze rents for a one or two year period after a Warm Front improvement.

Elliot Morley: Where measures are to be installed by Warm Front in a privately rented property, prior to work going ahead landlords sign an agreement that they will not increase the rent for either one or two years.
	However depending on the measures provided, where a property is regulated under a fair rent agreement or is subject to an annual rent review, landlords can increase the rent providing it does not take into account the impact of any Warm Front measures installed.
	The Warm Front Scheme Managers do not have any formal requirement to check whether these arrangements are being complied with but would act if contacted by a tenant on this issue.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Bullfighting

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, 
	(1)  if she will make representations to Ofcom to prevent the exposure of children to graphic pictures of bullfighting in late afternoon transmissions;
	(2)  what controls there are on the content of satellite transmissions by Sky television.

Estelle Morris: Responsibility for what is broadcast on television rests with the broadcasters and the appropriate regulator and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State therefore has no plans to make specific representations to Ofcom about this issue.
	Broadcasters established in the United Kingdom and licensed by Ofcom must comply with their programme code which is intended, among other things, to ensure that children are not exposed to inappropriate material.
	Some of the channels on the Sky platform are not licensed by Ofcom but by other jurisdictions in Europe. Under EU law, in the Television Without Frontiers (TVWF) Directive, licences granted in EU countries are recognised throughout the EU and stations which hold a licence can also be carried on other countries' domestic satellite platforms. In these circumstances they are subject to regulation by their country of origin only, and not by the second country on whose satellite platform they also appear.
	The TVWF Directive provides minimum standards for the protection of minors. The UK Government would intervene only if those standards were manifestly, seriously and gravely breached and Ofcom had recommended intervention.

European Constitution

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make a statement on the effect of the coming into force of the European Constitution on the operation of her Department, with reference to (a) changes in legislative competence, (b) the extension of qualified majority voting, (c) the increased legislative role of the European Parliament, (d) the cost of implementation of regulations, (e) the requirements of adherence to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and (f) the quantity of legislation originating in the EU institutions.

Richard Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Europe on Monday 29 November, Official Report, columns 10W-11W.

Legislation (Enactment)

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what pieces of legislation passed in the last 30 years that the Department is responsible for remain to be brought into force, broken down by year of enactment.

Richard Caborn: The pieces of primary legislation passed since 1997, for which the Department is responsible, and which remain to be brought into force, are listed in the table. The information requested for the period prior to 1997 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Act  
		
		
			 Licensing Act 2003  
			 2 97–99 
			 26–28 100 in part 
			 34 in part 101 
			 35 in part 102 in part 
			 36 in part 103–106 
			 37 in part 107 in part 
			 38 108–109 
			 39 in part 110 in part 
			 40–46 119 
			 47 in part 121 
			 48–50 136–154 
			 51 in part 156–157 
			 52–53 159–166 
			 56–57 167 in part 
			 58 in part 168–172 
			 59 in part 173 in part 
			 67 174–175 
			 80 176 in part 
			 81 177 
			 84 in part 179–180 
			 85 in part 181 in part 
			 86 in part 196 
			 87 in part 198 in part 
			 88–89 Sch 5 in part 
			 93–94 Sch 6 in part 
			 95 in part Sch 7 in part 
			 96 in part Sch 8 in part 
			   
			 Communications Act 2003  
			 180 401 
			 231 in part 406 in part 
			 265–70 409 
			 272–274 Sch 6 
			 299 in part Sch l2 in part 
			 300 Sch 17 in part 
			 338 in part Sch l9 in part 
			   
			 Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Act 2004  
			 All except 40–42  
			   
			 Human Tissue Act 2004  
			 47

Off-licences

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications for off-licences have been objected to by local residents in each of the last 10 years; what the main reasons given for such objections were; and what proportion of licences objected to were rejected.

Richard Caborn: This information is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

Special Advisers

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many appeals were made by civil servants to the Civil Service Commissioners regarding special advisers in her Department between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004; and when each appeal was lodged.

Richard Caborn: There were no appeals regarding special advisers made by civil servants to the Civil Service Commissioners in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004.

Under-age Drinkers

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to increase penalties for those who sell alcohol to under-age drinkers.

Richard Caborn: Under the Licensing Act 2003 the maximum fine for selling alcohol to an individual aged under 18 will increase to a maximum of £5,000 (level 5 on the standard scale). This is an increase on the maximum penalty available under the Licensing Act 1964, which is a fine of £1,000 (level 3 on the standard scale). Furthermore, on convicting a personal licence holder for such an offence (or a range of offences set out in the 2003 Act), the court will have the power to order the forfeiture of the personal licence or its suspension for up to six months. Also, an application for a personal licence could be refused because the applicant has such a conviction. In addition, such a conviction could jeopardise an application for the renewal of a personal licence. By contrast, under current law, the holder of a justices' licence may have his licence declared forfeit by the court only on conviction for a second offence under certain provisions of the 1964 Act. The 2003 Act is being brought into force in stages and it is planned that the sentencing provisions referred to above would be in force from November 2005.

TRANSPORT

Car Emissions

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) low carbon vehicles and (b) vehicles were sold in the UK in each of the last five years.

David Jamieson: The Government support sales of low carbon vehicles in a number of ways, as summarised in our "Powering Future Vehicles Strategy". Our Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax regimes in particular reward those who choose the cleanest, most fuel-efficient cars.
	We reported progress on low carbon vehicle sales in the Second Annual Report on the delivery of the Powering Future Vehicles Strategy, published in October 2004 and available via the Department's website. Some good progress has been made in recent years. Average new car fuel efficiency has been improving each year since 1995 in the UK, by between 1 per cent. and 2 per cent. per year on average, and in 2003 sales of cars with a fuel efficiency of 120 g/km carbon dioxide or better made up about 3 per cent. of total new car sales.
	Information on annual new vehicle registrations is published each year in "Transport Statistics Great Britain", available via the Department's website. Total new vehicle registrations and new registrations of private and light goods vehicles are presented in the following table.
	
		Thousand
		
			  All vehicles Of which, private and light goods vehicles 
		
		
			 2003 3,231.9 2,820.7 
			 2002 3,229.4 2,815.6 
			 2001 3,137.7 2,709.7 
			 2000 2,870.9 2,429.8 
			 1999 2,765.8 2,342.0

Cycling

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he will take to promote cycling in the English regions after the end of the contract for the English Regions Cycling Development Team in May 2005.

Charlotte Atkins: We have announced a wide range of measures to promote cycling, many of which can be found in our Action Plan on Walking and Cycling published June this year. These measures include £10 million to provide links from the National Cycle Network to more schools, and over £500,000 for improved bike parking at 200 targeted stations to aid bike and rail journeys. A new National Standard for cycle training will be launched shortly. We will also be working with the bicycle industry, DfES, local authorities, teachers and parents to roll out the "Bike It" scheme to the more than 250 school travel advisors. "Bike It" aims to make comprehensive provision for cycling to school by putting in place cycle training, bike parking and safer routes.

Intercity Trains

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what information he holds on the performance of intercity train companies;
	(2)  if he will publish information he holds on the punctuality of Virgin Trains' intercity services.

Tony McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority monitors the performance of all train operators, including Virgin, and publishes the results in their quarterly "National Rail Trends" publication. Copies are held in the Library of the House.

Level Crossings

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many manned level crossings were (a) closed and (b) converted to automatic operation in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many permanent road closures over railway lines at the point of level crossings there were in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: During the last two years, 178 level crossings have been closed by Network Rail. Almost all of these were crossings worked manually by users on private roads.

Level Crossings

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the use of cameras linked to heat and movement sensors triggering remote signalling to prevent train and road vehicle collisions at level crossings.

Tony McNulty: The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is conducting a formal industry investigation into the tragic derailment at Ufton Nervet, Berkshire on 6 November. As part of this, a panel of level crossing experts from Network Rail and RSSB has been convened to consider practical suggestions which might prevent similar incidents in the future.

Mersey Crossing

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the contribution that a new Mersey crossing may make to the economic growth of the North West.

Charlotte Atkins: Halton borough council will shortly be submitting to my Department a revised appraisal of the proposed New Mersey Crossing including an assessment of the wider economic benefits of this scheme to the areas that it would serve. We will consider this assessment once it has been submitted.

Rail Franchises

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who will be responsible for drawing up the new franchises created as a result of the termination of the Central Trains franchise; what the timetable is for the developments of these franchises; and to whom representations should be made about suggestions for new services.

Tony McNulty: The Secretary of State announced in the House on 19 October that he would reduce the number of rail franchises to 19. He also announced that when the Central Trains franchise expires in 2006, routes will be distributed into the Silverlink Trains, Virgin Cross Country, Midland Mainline, Chiltern and Northern franchises. Where appropriate, these will be put out to competitive tender as soon as possible. Responsibility for this process rests with the Strategic Rail Authority and any successor body. Representations about potential new services should be sent to the Strategic Rail Authority until such time as DfT, subject to the Railways Bill becoming law, takes over its functions.

Rail Franchises

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who will be responsible for drawing up the terms of the new Greater Western franchise; what the timetable is for its development; and to whom representations about the services it specifies should be made.

Tony McNulty: Plans for a Greater Western franchise were first announced by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) on 6 November 2002 following extensive local consultation. The new franchise will combine the existing First Great Western, First Great Western Link (previously Thames Trains) and Wessex Trains franchises into one operation as part of the process of reducing the number of rail franchises to 19 as the Secretary of State announced in the House on 19 October. The SRA is currently developing an invitation to tender for these services which will be issued in summer 2005. The new franchise is scheduled to commence in April 2006. Any representations on the Greater Western franchise should be sent to the SRA, until such time as DfT, subject to the Railways Bill becoming law, takes over its functions.

Pedestrian Rail Crossings

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is with respect to the provision of tunnels at pedestrian rail crossings where there have been fatalities, with particular reference to the Jamaica Road Crossing in Malvern, Worcestershire.

Tony McNulty: This is an operational matter for Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager. However, I understand that Network Rail has no current plans to install a tunnel at the Jamaica Road pedestrian level crossing in Malvern, Worcestershire.

Public Transport Subsidy

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest estimate is of the public transport subsidy per head of population from central Government for each English county in each year from 1997 to 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Charlotte Atkins: The Department for Transport does not hold financial information and expenditure in this format. Total departmental spend and planned expenditure from 1994–95 to 2014–15 was published as a graph in "The Future of Transport: a network for 2030", Annex A. (Cm 6234).
	For a breakdown of central and local government expenditure on transport in terms of England, Scotland, Wales and Great Britain, see Table 1.15 in Transport Statistics Great Britain 2004 (Published 2004).
	Copies of both documents are available in the Libraries of the House.

Railways (Scotland)

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the proposed devolvement of control of Scotland's railways as proposed by the Railways Bill will give powers to the Scottish Executive to renationalise railways.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 30 November 2004
	No. While streamlining the structure of the Rail industry and making a number of amendments to current rail legislation, the Railways Bill does not propose any changes to the status of Network Rail, which would remain a private 'not for dividend' company limited by guarantee, with responsibility for operating, maintaining and renewing Britain's rail network. Nor does the Bill propose amendments to Section 25 of the Railways Act 1993, which prevents any public sector body or emanation of the Crown or any company controlled by the Crown from operating a franchise, other than as an operator of last resort.

Road Noise

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on noise reduction barriers to reduce noise from roads in each of the last seven years.

David Jamieson: Figures for the last seven years are not available. Spend on noise reduction barriers that are provided in conjunction with highway improvement schemes are not separately identified in the scheme cost. Spend on the installation of noise barriers provided retrospectively on older trunk roads that commenced in 2000 has been met by the £5 million per year ring-fenced allocation.

Wheel Loss

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has commissioned in respect of the products which claim to prevent wheel loss.

David Jamieson: The Department has not itself commissioned such research. However, work carried out on behalf of the British Standards Institution indicated that a loss of clamp force—due to settlement between the interfaces of the wheel-fixing assembly—can take place without rotation of the nut. Thus, although use of locking devices can prevent loss of wheel nuts the devices cannot counteract a loss of clamp force, and excessive wear as a consequence of this could result in loss of a wheel while nuts were still attached. Nonetheless there might be benefit in some cases, with such equipment preventing or delaying total loss of a wheel.

Wheel Loss

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice his Department has issued to (a) manufacturers and (b) operators of heavy commercial vehicles on reducing road traffic accidents attributable to lost wheels.

David Jamieson: My Department, in association with the Confederation of Passenger Transport, Freight Transport Association, Institute of Road Transport Engineers, Road Haulage Association and the Tyre Industry Council, has issued a leaflet offering guidance on regular and effective wheel fixing maintenance measures to reduce the possibility of wheel loss.
	Copies of the leaflet have been placed in the Library of the House.

Roadworks

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much and what proportion of the Highways Agency budget for 2004–05 is expected to be spent on (a) noise barriers and (b) other environmental programmes in (i) maintenance and (ii) non-maintenance programmes;
	(2)  what route mileage of (a) road surface and (b) noise barriers is expected to be installed by the Highways Agency and its operators in (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2005–06 and (iii) 2006–07.

David Jamieson: The Highways Agency does not have available all data in relation to noise barriers and other environmental measures in the format requested. However, it is known that approximately £8.5 million will be spent on noise barriers in the current financial year. This figure is about 0.5 per cent. of the Highways Agency's published business plan total programme budget.
	The total approximate cost of environmental measures for the current financial year is £20 million. This figure includes measures such as wildlife fencing, badger runs and landscape planting. Although some of the measures are noise related, it is not possible to break down the costs to extract these.
	The cost of noise mitigation measures included in maintenance schemes cannot be separately identified. However, when building new roads or re-surfacing existing ones, quieter noise surfacing is used where possible.
	The approximate route length to be replaced or newly built in the current financial year is 400 km. The approximate length of noise barriers to be installed in the same period is 32 km. Figures are not yet available for 2005–06 and 2006–07 as budgets are yet to be confirmed.

School Transport

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what percentage of trips to schools were by bus by (a) five to 10 year olds and (b) 11 to 16 year olds in the latest year for which figures are available; and what proportion of these were (i) under three miles and (ii) three miles and over (1) in total and (2) broken down by region.

Charlotte Atkins: The National Travel Survey provides the data requested. The latest available data are for 2002–03, shown in the tables.
	
		Trips to and from school 2002–03, Great Britain
		
			 Percentage/trips 
			 Trips per child per year by: 5 to 10 years 11 to 16 years 5 to 16 years 
		
		
			 Bus 20 105 63 
			 All modes 316 328 322 
			 
			 Percentage by:
			 Bus 6 32 19 
			 
			 Percentage of those trips by  bus:
			 Under 3 miles 55 30 34 
			 3 miles and over 45 70 66 
		
	
	
		
			  5 to16 years 
			 Percentage of those trips by bus 
			 Regional Bus trips per child per year All trips per child per year Percentage of trips by bus Under 3 miles 3 miles and over 
		
		
			 North East 55 319 17 38 62 
			 North West 57 321 18 44 56 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 46 310 15 28 72 
			 East Midlands 63 315 20 37 63 
			 West Midlands 57 317 18 34 66 
			 East 53 309 17 28 72 
			 London 65 316 21 43. 57 
			 South East 56 322 17 19 81 
			 South West 59 322 18 23 77 
			 England 57 317 18 33 67 
			 Wales 95 315 30 26 74 
			 Scotland 96 374 26 43 57 
			 Great Britain 63 322 19 34 66 
		
	
	Source:
	National Travel Survey, DfT
	Numbers of trips are averaged over all children. Bus includes local and private school buses. Figures exclude trips over 50 miles.

South Eastern Trains

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent performance improvements have been achieved by South Eastern Trains; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Darling: Since South Eastern Trains (SET) franchise began operating on 9 November 2003 performance has been improving. At that time the yearly average number of SET services arriving on time was 79.4 per cent. Performance figures change from month to month. The most recently published figures cover the year to June 2004, and show that SET performance has risen to 80.8 per cent.
	This improvement of 1.4 per cent. points is marginally better than the improvement of 1.3 per cent. points across the South East sector as a whole. Over the same period, sector performance improved from 79.3 per cent. punctuality in November last year to 80.6 per cent. in June 2004.
	By way of comparison, performance on South West Trains (SWT) and Southern, the other two big south of London commuter operators, also improved over this period. SWT's yearly average was 73.7 per cent. at 9 November 2003 and rose to 74.5 per cent. in the year to June 2004. Southern performance rose from 78.2 per cent. to 79.5 per cent. over the same time.
	The overall increase in punctuality for SET is driven by two factors: a reduction in the delays caused by Network Rail's infrastructure operation and maintenance of around 2 per cent.; and a comparable reduction in knock-on delays caused to SET services by other train operators.

Timber

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to fund the establishment and maintenance of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber.

Charlotte Atkins: The Department supports and welcomes the creation of a Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) which would provide much needed advice to suppliers and purchasers of timber. However, as a result of budget constraints, we are unable to provide funds towards its establishment although we expect to pay for its services when it has been created.

Parliamentary Questions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to how many written questions tabled in the last parliamentary session his Department had been unable to provide a substantive answer before the end of the session.

Charlotte Atkins: The effective handling of parliamentary questions is an issue to which I, and ministerial colleagues, attach great importance.
	At all times Ministers make every effort to answer questions substantively before Prorogation. However this is not always possible. One question did not receive a substantive response before the House prorogued on Thursday 18 November. It is open to the hon. Member to re-table the question this session.

TREASURY

Band Aid (VAT)

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will authorise payment of a grant to the charity Band Aid equivalent to the sum to be paid in VAT by the end of the 2004–05 tax year from the sales of their new song.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Chancellor gave on 8 November 2004, Official Report, column 509W to the hon. Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Mrs. Lawrence)

Civil Service Jobs (Middlesbrough)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what change there will be in civil service jobs in Middlesbrough as a result of the merger of Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue.

Dawn Primarolo: We are currently working on detailed plans on where staff reductions will arise but it is still too early to say what effect the changes will have on any particular location.

Economic Policies (Lewisham, Deptford)

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he has introduced to improve the financial position of (a) parents and (b) pensioners in the Lewisham, Deptford constituency; and how many recipients there were of such measures in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2004.

Stephen Timms: Changes to the tax and benefit system made by this Government mean that, compared to the 1997 system:
	in 2004–05 families with children are, on average, £1,350 per year better off and families in the poorest fifth of the population are, on average, £3,000 per year better off. These improvements have been delivered in particular through increased child benefit and the introduction of tax credits. In 2001, 11,280 families in Lewisham Deptford benefited from the increases in child benefit, 1,729 working families also benefited from working families tax credit or disabled person's tax credit and 3,700 non-working families benefited from the child allowances in income support and jobseeker's allowance. In 2004, 10,915 families benefited from child benefit, of these 6,000 also benefited from more than the family element of child tax credit and 1,800 benefited from the family element of child tax credit.
	the average pensioner household was £11 per week better off in 2001–02 and is £26 per week better off in 2004–05. A key part of this has been financial support offered to the poorest pensioners by pension credit, introduced in October 2003. 3,200 pensioners in Lewisham Deptford are currently benefiting from pension credit with an average award of £57.30 a week.

Child Tax Credits/Benefits

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to apportion (a) child tax credits and (b) child benefits to non-resident parents.

Dawn Primarolo: Child benefit and child tax credit are awarded to the person with main responsibility for a child. Parents may choose which of them will receive the payments, but if no agreement is reached the Board of the Inland Revenue is responsible for determining entitlement, based on the facts of each case. There is no provision to allow the splitting of payments.
	The Government have an ambitious long-term goal to eradicate child poverty by 2020, and have a PSA target to halve it by 2010. To meet this challenging target it is necessary to focus financial support in a way which enables the parent with main responsibility for the child to provide for the child's needs. Child poverty groups support this approach. Splitting tax credits and benefits could have far reaching risks and consequences. The Government will continue to listen to parents and representative groups about the best way to support families with children.

Public Spending

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a statement on the change in public spending between 1997 and 2004.

Paul Boateng: Annex B of the 2004 Pre-Budget Report contains the latest historical series on total managed expenditure, including figures for 1996–97 and 2003–04.

Timber

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the refurbishment projects that (a) are in progress and (b) will start in the next six months; what action is being taken to ensure that these will procure timber from legal and sustainable sources; whether guidance will be issued to contractors on each of these projects to ensure that the timber used on site during refurbishment also comes from legal and sustainable sources.

Stephen Timms: HM Treasury has no current or planned refurbishment projects which involve the procurement of timber.
	The Inland Revenue, HM Customs and Excise and Valuation Office Agency outsourced works including refurbishments to a private company, Mapeley, in April 2001 under a 20-year contract. The Department's only current and planned refurbishment works are part of the Mapeley STEPS contract and are given as follows.
	Due to the size of the estate, works have been grouped rather than giving line by line property data.
	
		
			  Number of projects 
		
		
			 Current  
			 Roofs/windows doors 6 
			 Lighting 2 
			 Lifts 4 
			 HVAC 12 
			 Electrical and Mechanical 5 
			 H and S works/security and statutory compliance 14 
			 General building works 82 
			 Internal re-decoration/floorings blinds 5 
			 Total 130 
			   
			 Planned to commence during next six months  
			 Roofs/windows doors 18 
			 Lighting 9 
			 Lifts 7 
			 HVAC 21 
			 Electrical and Mechanical 8 
			 H and S works/security and statutory compliance 14 
			 General building works 54 
			 Internal re-decoration/floorings blinds 35 
			 Total 166 
		
	
	The STEPS contract requires Mapeley and all contractors used by them, to comply with various environmental requirements, specifically that they must ensure all procurement follows environmental procurement guidelines (PUG 177/97). Further to this they must ensure all wood is from an independently verified sustainable source and must support the Government's vision of sustainable development. Contractors are required by contract to use timber on site during refurbishment from legal and sustainable sources. Lifecycle plans for other departmental PFI contracts are currently being compiled, all such contracts are bound by the same government guidance.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place a copy of the results of his exercise to establish the extent of fraud and error in provisional new tax credit awards for 2003–04 in the Library.

Dawn Primarolo: Claimants have until 31 January to report 2003–04 incomes and finalise their 2003–04 awards. The extent of any non-compliance in 2003–04 tax credits awards can only be estimated when all such awards have been finalised.

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many TC840 forms for requesting reconsideration of recovery of tax credits have been sent out during the current tax year.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my right hon. Friend to my answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 October 2004, Official Report, column 666W.

VAT (National Lottery)

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there are circumstances in which governing bodies in sport have to pay VAT on money received from the lottery.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 30 November 2004
	Lottery grants to sports governing bodies will generally be outside the scope of VAT as they are generally not payment for any supplies. VAT incurred on purchases made using grant income can only be recovered to the extent that those purchases relate to the grantee's taxable business activities. VAT can not be recovered on purchases related to an organisation's exempt supplies or non-business activities.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Belfast City Airport

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many flights there were into Belfast City airport on average each week in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by type of aircraft; and how much fuel each such aircraft would be expected to consume during the first three minutes of take-off.

John Spellar: The weekly average of flights into Belfast City airport by aircraft type between 1 August 2004 and 31 October 2004 is shown in the following table. The amount of fuel used by an aircraft taking-off will vary depending on various factors including loading and weather conditions. The table shows an estimate of how much fuel each such aircraft would be expected to consume during the first three minutes of take-off where this was made available.
	
		
			  Aircraft type Number of weekly average flights  Fuel (kg) 
		
		
			 British Aerospace 146 62 265 
			 Airbus Industries 321 45 (1)— 
			 Airbus Industries 320 9 (1)— 
			 Airbus Industries F-100 0.15 (1)— 
			 Bombardier DASH 8 Q400 126 74 
			 Bombardier DASH 8 Q300 63 85–90 
			 ATR72 1 74 
			 ATR42 9 74 
			 Embraer 145 1 150 
			 Embraer 110 17 17 
			 Light commercial 17 (1)— 
		
	
	(1) Unavailable

Belfast City Airport

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what steps are being taken to enforce compliance by Belfast City Airport of its planning agreement to offer 1.5 million scheduled seats for sale from the airport in any 12 month period;.
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the extent to which Belfast City Airport is meeting its planning agreement in respect of scheduled seats on offer.

Angela Smith: The latest information available to the Department indicates that Belfast City Airport (BCA) is operating within the current limit included in the Planning Agreement in relation to the number of scheduled seats for sale.
	As BCA has not to date exceeded the planning agreement restriction of 1.5 million scheduled seats for sale from the airport in any 12-month period the Department would have no reason to pursue enforcement action.

Crumlin Road Gaol

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of Crumlin Road gaol.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 18 November 2004, Official Report, column 1751W.

Departmental Websites

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his Department's .gov.uk websites comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines adopted by the Government in 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: At present, only the website of the Northern Ireland Office complies with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines at Priority Checkpoint 2 (Level AA) standard.
	The websites of the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration currently do not fully comply with the Priority Checkpoint 2 (Level AA) Guidelines although work is currently underway to attain compliance with that standard in 2005.

Fisheries Conservancy Board

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many recommended prosecutions by bailiffs in Northern Ireland have been prevented by the issuing of exemption certificates by the Fisheries Division of the Department of Agriculture Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

Angela Smith: There has been one recorded recommended prosecution which was subsequently not progressed following the issue of an exemption certificate by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. This occurred in 2002.

Housing

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new housing starts there have been in (a) North Belfast and (b) Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

John Spellar: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 18 November 2004, Official Report, column 1758.

Psychotherapy

John Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what provision for psychotherapy is available under the national health service in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The term psychotherapy encompasses a range of interventions such as family therapy, supportive psychotherapy, psychoanalytical therapy, and cognitive and behavioural therapy. These may be delivered by therapists from various professional backgrounds and addressing a range of issues from emotional and psychological problems to severe mental illness or addiction. Identifying all psychotherapy interventions could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Roads Budget

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the Department for Regional Development Roads Service Structural Maintenance budget was in each of the last three years.

John Spellar: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Malcolm McKibbin to Mr. Gregory Campbell, dated 30 November 2004
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about what Roads Service's Structural Maintenance budget was for each of the last three years. I have been asked to reply as these issues fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	The maintenance of the structure of roads and footways in Northern Ireland continues to be one of the primary objectives of the Roads Service. In the last three years 01/02; 02/03; and 03/04 the expenditure on structural maintenance has been £54, £65 and £83 million respectively. In the current financial year it is expected that just under £70 million will be spent on this key activity.

Strangford View, Killyleagh

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will institute a public inquiry into the construction of a 45 foot gabion wall at Strangford View in Killyleagh; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: It would not be appropriate to initiate a Public Inquiry in this instance. Planning permission was granted on 5 December 2003 for proposed alterations to an existing entrance, development roads, dwelling footprints together with storm and foul sewers. The approved plans did not provide for a wall of the scale and character now constructed and the wall is therefore unauthorised.
	Although the Planning Service has received assurances that the developer is keen to rectify this breach, enforcement action has been initiated and a final warning letter issued on 22 November. Formal enforcement proceedings will now follow unless the developer takes action on the breach.
	The developer has submitted a planning application for twelve 3-storey townhouses on a portion of the site, which is still under consideration. It is anticipated that the developer will submit a further application addressing the breach of planning control through the delivery of a comprehensive scheme for the whole site.
	Once an application is received, interested parties will be notified and given the opportunity to inspect relevant plans and comment as appropriate. Any comments will be taken into account before a final decision is reached on the application. The Department will continue to ensure that concerns expressed by residents and elected representatives in relation to the wall are addressed.

Victoria Square

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made on redeveloping Victoria Square, Belfast.

John Spellar: Further to the answer I gave on 18 November 2004, Official Report, column 1775W, Churchill House was successfully imploded on 21 November.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Crown Prosecution Service

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the work of the Crown Prosecution Service in North Yorkshire.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service in North Yorkshire is working with the police and the courts to bring offenders to justice and to ensure people can have confidence in the criminal justice system.
	Last year's inspection finds their casework decision-making to be "good".
	The CPS is bringing persistent young offenders before the courts speedily and they are reducing the number of cases which do not result in a guilty plea or conviction after trial.

Crown Prosecution Service

Graham Allen: To ask the Solicitor-General what interaction takes place between local police officers and local lawyers of the Crown Prosecution Service in Nottinghamshire to improve mutual understanding of the process from arrest to charge; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: The principal interaction between local prosecutors and police officers is through the charging scheme, which was implemented in Nottinghamshire on 5 July 2004. Early consultation between police officers and duty prosecutors takes place in over 1,000 cases a month in Nottinghamshire. This promotes and encourages the prosecution team approach towards the common goal of bringing offenders to justice.
	Additionally the CPS and police meet every month to examine management information and to learn lessons, identify issues and training needs and to consider any changes required to further improve arrangements. For example, consideration is currently being given to opening further charging centres in local police stations to reduce waiting times for officers and ensure the charging advice scheme is more convenient for police officers.
	I understand that my hon. Friend met a senior official in the Crown Prosecution Service to discuss the new charging arrangements. A scheduled review is shortly to take place when the issue you have raised will be examined. A report will be sent to my hon. Friend shortly about the findings.

Evidential Test

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Solicitor-General what recent discussions she has had with the Crown Prosecution Service about the strength of the evidential test needed to bring a case to court.

Harriet Harman: The evidential test for public prosecutions is set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Attorney-General and I maintain a close interest in the code. A revised edition was published last month and a copy is available in the House of Commons Library.
	But the evidential test remains the same, namely whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction. This is an objective test which means that a jury or bench of magistrates, properly directed in accordance with the law, is more likely than not to convict the defendant of the charge alleged.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Alderman Knight School

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the recent poll held in Tewkesbury borough with respect to the future of Alderman Knight School.

Margaret Hodge: Under arrangements introduced in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, the consideration of proposals for establishing, altering, or discontinuing maintained special schools are a matter for local decision making. It is for the local School Organisation Committee to take into consideration any objections received when they make their decision on proposals.

Children's Diet (Behaviour)

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research he is undertaking into the relationship between diet and behaviour of children in schools.

Stephen Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills is not undertaking any research into the relationship between diet and behaviour of children in schools. However, the Food Standards Agency is currently carrying out research into the impact of food additives on children's behaviour.

Science Teaching

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the teaching of practical science in schools.

David Miliband: Exciting science practical work has a key part to play in delivering inspiring science lessons. We are improving teacher skills and confidence in practical work through the national network of Science Learning Centres, our £51 million partnership with the Wellcome Trust. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority have developed a new Programme of Study for science at Key Stage 4: which gives greater flexibility and has more emphasis on practical understanding of science. science.

Science Teaching

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to increase the number of students studying science and technology subjects at A level.

Kim Howells: The Government's 10 Year Investment Framework for Science and Innovation outlined our plans to enthuse more students to achieve in science and technology and study these subjects at A level. We said we would improve science teaching, addressing recruitment of science teachers and providing access to continuing professional development. Through the new Programme of Study for science at Key Stage 4, we are ensuring the science taught in schools inspires learners to pursue further study.

Building Schools for the Future

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance he has issued to local authorities which have successfully bid for Building Schools for the Future funding.

David Miliband: Comprehensive guidance has been issued to all authorities within Building Schools for the Future, from both the Department and its delivery partners, partnerships for Schools. This covers a wide range of areas; how to develop and Education Vision for local areas, the funding assumptions underpinning the programme, establishing a project team, the latest developments in school design and ICT, value for money procurement, and how to prepare a successful business case for final funding approval. The core guidance documents issued include BSF Wave 1 (or 2 as appropriate) Overview for Local Authorities, which covers all key areas from Education Visions to funding, design and procurement; "Building Schools for the Future": "Local Authority Education Vision—Guidelines for Wave 1" (or 2 as appropriate), which covers the whole range of policy areas and expectations from school organisation to the 14–19 agenda; "Guidance for Local Authorities on Improved joined-up Planning and Funding": and "Prioritisation and Forward Planning Information", which details how we prioritised local authority projects for investment, and how they can best plan ahead of Building Schools for the Future.

Building Schools for the Future

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the refurbishment projects for (a) schools under the Building Schools for the Future programme, (b) colleges and (c) his Department's buildings that (i) are in progress and (ii) that will start in the next six months; what action is being taken to ensure that these will procure timber from legal and sustainable sources; and whether guidance will be issued to contractors on each of these projects to ensure that the timber used on-site during refurbishment also comes from legal and sustainable sources.

David Miliband: Funding for Building Schools for the Future is not fully available until 2005–06. While it is not possible to forecast, at this stage, how many projects will start building work at the beginning of that financial year, a limited number of wave 1 projects are expected to start building work within the next 6 months.
	There is no specific guidance available on the procurement of legal and sustainably sourced timer as part of the BSF. However, recently we have launched BREEAM-Schools (Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method) which will help schools, local authorities and dioceses to set environmental targets for new school buildings and major refurbishments and help designers to improve the environmental performance of their buildings. All schools supported by Government funding should aim for a very good or excellent rating. Within BREEAM there are two optional credits available where timber and wood products used in structural and non-structural elements are responsibly sourced (legal and sustainable) or utilised reused and recycled timber. There are also other credits available in BREEAM which promote the use of timber as it has a low environmental impact.
	All of the Department's funds for post-16 learning and skills sector capital investment are allocated to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC has sole responsibility for the programme of renewing and replacing the FE estate. This is an operational matter for the LSC. Mr Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member about this matter and provide the information that he has asked for. A copy of this reply will be placed in the House Library.
	My Department has no refurbishment projects in progress and no future plans that will call for the use of timber.

Building Schools for the Future

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress his Department is making with the Building Better Schools programme.

David Miliband: We are making excellent progress with Building Schools for the Future. On Tuesday, I announced the 20 new authorities in waves two and three, which will develop projects aiming to sing in 2006–07 and 2007–08. This brings to 39 the number of local authorities in the programme: over a quarter of the total. About 380 schools will benefit from £6.5 billion of investment being allocated over the next three years. We have established Partnerships for Schools to help authorities develop their projects. We have published a range of exemplar designs for schools, which have been well received. Two of the wave one authorities have had their outline business cases approved and are now moving to procurement; other have submitted or will submit their cases shortly for consideration.

Vocational Education

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the financial co-operation between local education authorities and the Learning and Skills Council on implementing the Government's 14–19 strategy for vocational education; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The joint 16–19 Capital Fund announced in the Department's five year strategy will be available for cross-sector projects, including vocational provision. The forthcoming 14–19 White Paper will consider how financial co-operation between LEAs and the LSC can be further developed to help support implementation of the 14–19 strategy.

Education (Lewisham, Deptford)

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action his Department has taken to improve standards in secondary schools in the Lewisham, Deptford constituency since 1997.

David Miliband: Standards in secondary schools in the Deptford, Lewisham constituency have improved significantly. Since 1997 the Key Stage 3 results at Level 5 and above show an increase of 17.3 (percentage) points in English, 22.7 (percentage) points in mathematics and 21.2 inscience. At Key Stage 4 there has been an increase of 20.6 (percentage) points in the attainment of 5+A*-C GCSEs and 10.9 at 5+ A*-G GCSEs, significantly above the national rates of improvement. A summary of the improving outcomes is set out in the table . Data for 2004 will be provided at constituency level during January 2005.
	Information about education and skills by constituency is made available by the Department through the 'In Your Area' web site, available at http//www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea.
	
		Key Stage 3
		
			  English Maths Science 
		
		
			 1997 57.1 52.7 52.4 
			 1998 66.2 53.9 51.9 
			 1999 63.7 56.7 51.1 
			 2000 64.1 59.4 50.9 
			 2001 68.5 64.2 64.5 
			 2002 7.3.3 72.0 68.9 
			 2003 74.4 75.4 73.6 
		
	
	
		Key Stage 4
		
			  Percentage 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at A* -C Percentage 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at A* GCSEs at A* -G 
		
		
			 1997 37.7 85.0 
			 1998 43.2 87.4 
			 1999 44.9 92.9 
			 2000 48.1 90.6 
			 2001 51.3 90.0 
			 2002 57.5 93.1 
			 2003 58.3 95.9

Education (Lewisham, Deptford)

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action his Department has taken to improve standards in primary schools in the Lewisham, Deptford constituency since 1997.

David Miliband: This year's results show that standards in primary schools are improving again. In English the percentage of 11 years olds achieving the expected level has increased by 3 (percentage) points to 78 per cent. and mathematics has increased by 1 (percentage) point to 74 per cent.
	Standards in primary schools in the Lewisham, Deptford constituency have improved dramatically. Since 1997 the Key Stage 2 results show an increase of 23.2 (percentage) points in English and 23.7 (percentage) points in mathematics, significantly above the national rates of improvement of 15 (percentage) points in English and 12 in mathematics. A summary of the improving outcomes is set out in the following table. Data for 2004 is not yet available at constituency level but will be provided when the Achievement and Attainment tables are published in mid-January.
	Information on education and skills by constituency is made available by the Department through the "In Your Area" website available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea
	
		Key stage 1 (achievement at level 2 and above)
		
			  Reading Writing Maths 
		
		
			 1997 73.8 73.5 79.7 
			 1998 70.5 71.4 77.9 
			 1999 71.3 71.9 81.0 
			 2000 72.4 73.3 84.7 
			 2001 74.2 74.3 81.7 
			 2002 77.5 77.5 83.7 
			 2003 77 77.1 84.8 
		
	
	
		Key stage 2 (achievement at level 4 and above)
		
			  English Maths 
		
		
			 1997 48.5 48.3 
			 1998 52.7 45.9 
			 1999 56.9 61.5 
			 2000 60.6 59.6 
			 2001 70.4 62.6 
			 2002 65.2 64.1 
			 2003 71.7 72.0

Education (Lewisham, Deptford)

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what capital investment his Department has made in the Lewisham, Deptford constituency in the last three years.

David Miliband: The capital allocations made to Lewisham Local Education Authority and its schools in the last three years are:
	
		£000 
		
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Grant 8,326 7,314 6,455 
			 Supported Borrowing 7,500 9,287 8,615 
			 PFI credits 60,600 0 0 
			 Total capital investment 76,426 16,601 15,070 
		
	
	Information on the split between constituencies is not held centrally. Decisions on how resources should be invested in schools are made in accordance with locally prepared asset management plans.
	The capital investment on ICT made to the LEA and its schools is not included in the figures provided above. This information is kept separately and can be found in the house of Commons Library in a paper Funding for ICT schools in England.

Training Costs

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research his Department has undertaken to ascertain the willingness of employers to pay for training.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has not commissioned any research specifically to investigate the willingness of employers to pay for training. However, the Learning and Training At Work Survey in 2000 researched how much employers do pay for training and the 2002 report "The Nature of Training and Motivation to Train in Small Firms" by John Kitching and Robert Blackburn contains a section on the barriers to training (including financial barriers). Both reports are in the House of Commons Library.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

British Nuclear Fuels

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made the financial benefit conferred on British Nuclear Fuels by the Energy Act 2004.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 30 November 2004
	The Energy Act 2004 does not confer any direct financial benefit to BNFL. Its provisions relating to the civil nuclear industry (in part) establish the NDA and provide for nuclear transfer schemes to facilitate the consequent reorganisation of British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL). This reorganisation will be conducted in line with the conclusions of the Joint Strategy Review as announced by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the House of Commons on 11 December 2003

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  if she will list the value of (a) UK High Technology Fund and (b) Regional Venture Capital Funds expenditure in each region since the Funds' establishment;
	(2)  if she will list the value of (a) UK High Technology Fund and (b) Regional Venture Capital Fund expenditure in each region since 2000.

Nigel Griffiths: As at the 31 October 2004 the Regional Venture Capital Funds (RVCFs) had invested £38,194,527. This number can be broken down regionally as follows:
	
		
			 Region £ 
		
		
			 East Midlands 5,269,152 
			 East of England 1,158,111 
			 London 4,633,102 
			 North East 4,890,381 
			 North West 5,559.080 
			 South East 9,907,201 
			 South West 1,400,000 
			 West Midlands 3,677,500 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 1,700,000 
		
	
	The UK High Technology Fund is a fund of funds, as at the 30 June 2004 £123.6 million had been invested in nine private equity partnerships. The information necessary to determine a regional breakdown of this expenditure is not made available to us by the UK High Technology Fund.

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial provision has been made for the Regional Venture Capital Funds in each year since 2001; and what the uptake was in each year.

Nigel Griffiths: The UK Government have committed a total of £74,375,000 to the Regional Venture Capital Funds.
	As at 31 October 2004 this provision has been drawn down as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2001–02 2,100,000 
			 2002–03 9,037,500 
			 2003–04 19,600,000 
			 2004–05 13,825,000 
			 Total 44,562,500

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial provision has been made for the Research and Development Grants/Smart in each year since its inception; and what the uptake was in each year.

Nigel Griffiths: I refer to the answer given on 26 January 2004, Official Report, column 84W. For 2003–04, provision for Smart and Grant for Research and Development was £27 million and expenditure of £47 million.

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial provision has been made for enterprise grants in each year since its inception; and what the uptake was in each year.

Nigel Griffiths: The enterprise grant scheme is now closed. Initially the scheme was allocated a budget of £45 million between January 2000 and March 2003. The scheme deadline was extended to March 2004. The uptake has been as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Expenditure (£ million) 
		
		
			 2000–01 3.6 
			 2001–02 10.2 
			 2002–03 11.8 
			 2003–04 13.6

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the value of Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme expenditure in each (a) region and (b) constituency in each year since 2000.

Nigel Griffiths: The following table lists the value of Small Firms Loan Guarantee expenditure by Region from 2000–04.
	
		Value £ million 
		
			 Region 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2001 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 1 April 2002 to 31 April 2002 1 April 2003 to 31 April 2004 
		
		
			 East Midlands and Eastern 5.48 8.01 8.54 9.08 
			 North East 1.05 1.72 1.84 1.09 
			 North West 3.6 4.2 4.39 4.93 
			 South East 6.28 8.85 12.91 12.3 
			 South West 4.1 4.87 3.63 5.02 
			 West Midlands 3.44 3.39 4.75 4.76 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2.63 2.91 4.04 3.15 
			 Northern Ireland 0.26 0.43 0.27 1.22 
			 Scotland 5.63 7.6 7.64 8.2 
			 Wales 1.56 2.79 2.41 2.94 
			 Total 34.03 44.77 50.42 52.69 
		
	
	Expenditure figures are not available by constituency.
	The expenditure in the previous table is offset by the premiums and recoveries in the following table.
	These figures are not available by region.
	
		
			  1 April to 31 March each year  Value £ million Total Net Expenditure (£ million) 
		
		
			 2000–01 9.2 24.83 
			 2001–02 9.3 35.47 
			 2002–03 9.6 40.82 
			 2003–04 12.5 40.19

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have been assisted research and development grants/Smart; and to what value in each (a) region and (b) constituency since 2000.

Nigel Griffiths: The following table shows the number and value of Smart and research and development grants by region. Data are not available by constituency.
	
		Number and value of offers: Smart and grant for research and development
		
			  2000–01(2) 2001–02(3) 2002–03(3) 2003–04(3) 
			  Number Value (£000) Number Value (£000) Number Value (£000) Number Value (£000) 
		
		
			 East 59 3,994 81 4,854 167 9,771 174 12,355 
			 East Midlands 35 1,925 47 1,940 69 4,933 64 3,830 
			 London 14 852 38 1,752 63 3,815 109 7,697 
			 North East 10 542 17 1,162 36 1,518 37 2,284 
			 North West 62 3,803 111 5,824 134 6,889 145 8,251 
			 South East 77 5,586 103 6,232 198 9,886 203 12,916 
			 South West 26 1,624 66 3,577 65 2,398 46 2,714 
			 West Midlands 48 2,486 62 3,091 43 2,392 36 2,743 
			 Yorks and Humber 50 3,297 90 4,993 98 4,787 105 6,638 
		
	
	(2) Excludes Smart Technology Reviews and Studies, Micro and Exceptional Projects which were centrally administered.
	(3) Excludes Smart Technology Reviews and Studies which were centrally administered.

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many organisations have been assisted by the Phoenix Fund; and to what value in each (a) region and (b) constituency since 2000.

Nigel Griffiths: The Phoenix Fund provides funding to enable business support organisations to undertake a range of measures to promote enterprise in disadvantaged areas and under-represented groups. The number of organisations and the amount of funding that they have been awarded, by region, is as follows:
	
		
			 Region Number of organisations receiving funding Amount of funding awarded (£) 
		
		
			 Eastern 10 5,380,000 
			 East Midlands 20 5,820,000 
			 London 43 18,100,000 
			 North East 21 5,180,000 
			 North West 38 13,980,000 
			 South East 11 3,350,000 
			 South West 22 6,740,000 
			 West Midlands 28 9,100,000 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 28 11,700,000 
		
	
	With this funding, the organisations have to date helped in the creation of over 8,400 new businesses, assisted some 9,600 existing enterprises and provided over 1,800 loans to the value of £11,300,000.
	As organisations work across constituency boundaries, it is not possible to provide information on a constituency basis.

Business Support Initiatives

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have been assisted by Enterprise Grants; and to what value in each (a) region and (b) constituency since 2000.

Nigel Griffiths: The number of Enterprise Grants awarded and the value of payments made in each region from 2000 are as follows:
	
		
			  April 2000 to March 2004 
			  Region Number of grants awarded Value of payments (£000) 
		
		
			 East 47 764 
			 East Midlands 233 4560 
			 London 48 950 
			 North East 416 8652 
			 North West 461 8317 
			 South East 152 2586 
			 South West 92 1423 
			 West Midlands 255 5205 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 349 6931 
		
	
	The number of businesses assisted may be slightly lower than the number of grants awarded as a small number of businesses may have received more than one grant. Corresponding data for each constituency are not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	As organisations work across constituency boundaries, it is not possible to provide information on a constituency basis.

Better Regulation Task Force

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the representation from manufacturing industry is on the Better Regulation Task Force.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
	The Better Regulation Task Force is a Cabinet Office sponsored non-departmental public body (NDPB).
	Members of the Better Regulation Task Force are appointed for their experience and expertise, not as representatives of a particular sector. At present, there is one member of the Task Force with experience in the manufacturing sector. Full details of all Task Force members can be found on their website at www.brtf.gov.uk.

Civil Space Technology

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial contribution her (a) Department, (b) non-departmental public bodies and (c) research councils made to civil space technology in 2004–05; and what financial provision has been made for the period 2005–06 to 2009–10.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department plans to spend £32.9 million in 2004–05 on civil space activities. With changes to DTI funding arrangements it is not possible separately to identify space technology funding. The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council will spend £68.8 million on civil space activities and the Natural Environment Research Council will spend £52.5 million. I am not aware of any other financial contributions by non-departmental public bodies. Financial provisions for subsequent years have not been settled, but are likely to be of the same order in 2005–06.

Clean-coal Technology

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the coal generating industry about fitting clean-coal technology; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 30 November 2004
	Although Ministers have not recently had any formal discussions with the coal-fired power generation industry about cleaner coal technologies, DTI officials have been in frequent touch with the companies in this sector and Ministers have had broader meetings which included reference to FGD. In particular representatives from E.ON and RWE sit on the Advisory Committee for Carbon Abatement Technologies which meets about every two months.
	We are currently developing a Carbon Abatement Technology Strategy for Fossil Fuel Power Generation which will include support for new cleaner coal technologies. We plan to publish this early next year.

Miners' Compensation

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she last met representatives of the Law Society to discuss solicitors' fees for coal health compensation claims.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 30 November 2004
	The Department continues to hold discussions with the Law Society of England and Wales on a regular basis regarding the coal health schemes. The last such discussion took place in October. We aim to meet with them again early in the new year.

Miners' Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what guidance the Department has issued on the practice of solicitors farming out work under the coalminers compensation scheme.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 30 November 2004
	The Department has not issued guidance in relation to this. Solicitors have a professional code which is supervised by the Law Society.

Miners' Compensation

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many miners and widows have been paid less than £2,000 in settlements for (a) vibration white finger and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Midlothian.

Nigel Griffiths: As of 21 November 2004 the figures are:
	
		
			  Number of claimants paid less than £2,000 in settlement 
		
		
			 COPD 414 
			 VWF 153 
		
	
	Note:
	Statistics represent the total damages on claims settled by payment.

Miners' Compensation

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been paid to solicitors in Scotland for vibration white finger claims since the scheme came into operation.

Nigel Griffiths: As of 21 November 2004, the total costs paid to solicitors in Scotland is £5 million.

Consumer Direct

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much it has cost to make the Consumer Direct telephone advice service available in (a) Scotland, (b) South West England, (c) Wales, (d) Yorkshire and the Humber and (e) total; and how many inquiries have been handled in each region.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The cost for making the new consumer advice and information service, Consumer Direct, available in Scotland, South West, Wales and Yorkshire and Humber cannot be broken down per region/nation. But the overall budget for developing the service and launching it in the first four regions/nations is £3 million for financial year 2003–04 and £12 million for financial year 2004–05. The figure for 2004–5 includes both one offset-up costs, the cost of running the service on an ongoing basis in all four regions, and also central overheads such as IT development, telephony and quality assurance.
	The Consumer Direct Scotland was launched on 12 July 2004 and has answered 39,007 calls. Consumer Direct Yorkshire and the Humber was launched on 23 August 2004 and has answered 47,568 calls, Wales launched 8 September 2004 and has answered 31,687 calls and Consumer Direct South West launched on 15 September 2004 and has dealt with 37313 calls. These figures cover the period from launch up to 27 November 2004, not to the end of the financial year.
	I am pleased to say that the early performance of the service has been most encouraging in all four regions. Initial feedback from the first customer satisfaction surveys indicates an overall satisfaction rate of 85 per cent.; 79 per cent. said that the advice received from Consumer Direct had helped resolve the matter they were calling about; and over 90 per cent. would recommend Consumer Direct to a friend.

Consumer Direct

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry at what cost the Consumer Direct website was set up; how much it costs each year; and how many people have visited the site.

Patricia Hewitt: The Consumer Direct website (www.consumerdirect.gov.uk) cost £112,000 to set up and its annual running costs will not exceed £25,000. Since 1 September 2004 there have been 49,901 visitors to the website.

COT3 Settlements

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the likely effects of amending the law so that unpaid COT3 settlements accrue interest on the same basis as awards made by employment tribunals; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 29 November 2004
	The terms of a COT3 settlement are for negotiation and agreement between the parties, with the active involvement of a conciliation officer. It is already open to an employee, as a condition of agreeing a COTS settlement, to require that provision be made for interest to accrue if any amount payable under that settlement is unpaid after a given period.

Departmental Five Year Programme

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what role was played by her Department's special advisors in the drafting and production of the Five Year Programme published by her Department on 17 November.

Patricia Hewitt: Special advisers provided advice to the Secretary of State and Ministers and commented on drafting by officials during the development and production of the programme.

Dial-up Internet Scams

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what plans she has to provide consumers with protection against fraudulent dial-up internet scams; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The Department has asked the communications regulator the Office of Communications (Ofcom) to review the role and powers of ICSTIS in premium rate regulation in view of the consumer harm caused by fraudulent dial-up internet scams. Ofcom is due to report back shortly. The Department will consider Ofcom's recommendations, and will be involved in implementing them.

Dial-up Internet Scams

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what estimate she has made of the number of people affected by dial-up internet scams in the last year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Premium Rate Services are regulated by the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS). ICSTIS received around 60,000 complaints between August 2003 and July 2004, of which approximately two thirds were related to internet diallers.

Dial-up Internet Scams

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what discussions she has had with the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) about the growth of dial-up internet scams and premium rate number diallers; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The Department has had several discussions with ICSTIS about the growth of such scams and diallers in recent months.

Employment Tribunals

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what the average award for compensation in employment tribunal cases was in the UK in each year between 1992 and 1996.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Between 1992 and 1996 the Employment Tribunals Service only collected compensation statistics for tribunal cases covering the jurisdictions for Unfair Dismissal, Race Discrimination and Sex Discrimination. Therefore, the figures quoted in the tables illustrate the average award for compensation in Employment Tribunal cases for the UK (excluding Northern Island) since 1992 in relation to the aforementioned complaints.
	
		
			  Average award for compensation (£000) 
		
		
			 1992–93 2,593 
			 1993–94 2,801 
			 1994–95 3,402 
			 1995–96 2,510 
			 1996–97 2,602

Energy Consumption/Emission Levels

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will publish the latest revisions to her Department's forecasts for energy consumption and carbon emission levels for the UK in (a) 2010 and (b) 2020; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The Department of Trade and Industry published its latest revisions to projections for energy consumption and carbon emission levels in 2010 in a recent paper on the Department's website www.dti.gov.uk/energy/sepn/uep2004.pdf. Further details of the carbon projections by source and end user will be published, for 2010 and 2020, in the consultation paper for the Climate Change Programme Review to be published in December. The latest projection of carbon dioxide emissions is 141.3 million tonnes of carbon (MtC) in 2010.

Equal Opportunities Commission

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims have been brought by people living in the Greater London area to the Equal Opportunities Commission in each of the last three years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: People do not bring claims to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). The EOC provides information on legal rights, what options and steps are available to individuals, and advice on how to take cases to employment tribunal or court.

Fireworks Act

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the police on the enforcement of the Fireworks Act 2003.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My Department conducted informal, preliminary consultations and formal consultation exercises, which included discussions with the Association of Chief Police Officers and other police representatives, during late 2003 (prior to the making of the emergency Fireworks Regulation 2003) and throughout the summer of 2004, prior to the introduction of the Fireworks Regulations 2004.
	Those discussions included matters of policy and practical issues in relation to the enforcement of certain measures in the proposed Fireworks Regulations—measures such as the possession of fireworks in public places by the under 18s; non-professional possession of category 4 fireworks; and breaches of the curfew on fireworks use.
	Additionally, the Home Office have also communicated to the police guidance on their new responsibilities and the powers available to them in the course of enforcement.

IAEA Conferences

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Government were represented at the conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in (a) Moscow in June and (b) Beijing on 18 to 22 October; and if she will place in the Library the text of Government statements and submissions to each conference.

Mike O'Brien: The UK Government were not represented at the IAEA International Conference on Fifty Years of Nuclear Power in Moscow in June.
	The UK Government were represented at the IAEA International Conference on Topical Issues in Nuclear Installation Safety in Beijing on 18 to 22 October by officials from the Health and Safety Executive. No formal Government statements or submissions were made to the Conference.

Industrial Diseases (Nottinghamshire)

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims for (a) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (b) vibration white finger were concluded for the constituency of Sherwood in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001, (iii) 2002, (iv) 2003 and (v) 2004.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 1 December 2004
	The figures are as follows:
	
		
			  COPD VWF 
			  Settlements(4) Damages paid(5) (£ million) Settlements(4) Damages paid(5) (£ million) 
		
		
			 2000 148 0.5 171 1 
			 2001 356 1.4 660 5 
			 2002 781 3.2 893 5.9 
			 2003 1,547 7.2 1,428 9 
			 2004(6) 1,642 4.2 1,287 7.4 
		
	
	(4) Settlements represent claims settled by payment and by denial/withdrawal.
	(5) Damages paid represents the total damages paid on claims settled by payment.
	(6) Figures for 2004 reflect the position to 21 November 2004.

Industrial Diseases (Nottinghamshire)

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims for (a) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (b) vibration white finger were concluded in Nottinghamshire in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001, (iii) 2002, (iv) 2003 and (v) 2004.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 1 December 2004
	The figures are as follows:
	
		
			  COPD VWF 
		
		
			 2000 553 641 
			 2001 1,560 2,235 
			 2002 3,346 3,382 
			 2003 6,617 5,474 
			 2004 7,239 4,843 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Nottinghamshire is defined by claimants postcode beginning with 'NG'.
	2. Settlements represent claims settled by payment and by denial/withdrawal.
	3. Figures for 2004 reflect the position to 28 November 2004.

Industrial Tribunals (Greater London)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases are waiting to be heard at industrial tribunals that cover the Greater London area; and what the average time before a case is heard at such a tribunal has been in the last period for which figures are available.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Employment Tribunal offices that cover the Greater London area are London Central, Stratford, Watford and London South. The numbers of live cases on 31 October 2004 were as follows:
	
		
			  Live cases at 31 October 2004 
		
		
			 London Central 4,266 
			 London South 6,174 
			 Stratford 3,835 
			 Watford 10,500 
		
	
	Note:
	It should be noted that not all of these will necessarily result in a hearing.
	The Employment Tribunals Service does not measure the average time for cases to be heard. The Agency has a key performance target of 75 per cent. of cases being brought to a first hearing within 26 weeks of the receipt of a claim. The year to date performance at the end of October 2004 for the above offices is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 London Central 78 
			 London South 91 
			 Stratford 72 
			 Watford 80

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in the deliberations within the European Union in respect of the decision on the location of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER); and what plans there are for multinational responsibilities for the management of radioactive waste arising from ITER.

Mike O'Brien: The negotiations on the location of ITER are proceeding; the European Commission has been given a mandate to finalise the negotiations. The international partners hope to make a decision on the site before the end of the year.
	The partners are also negotiating the legal agreement on ITER covering management issues. Unlike nuclear fission reactions that generate radioactive waste the end products of the fusion reaction will be helium, which has no harmful effects; any radioactivity will be limited to the walls of the chamber the reaction takes place in.

Nuclear Accidents

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent assessment she has made of the threat of nuclear accident worldwide; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: There is not a new assessment of the issue, however with respect to nuclear safety at civil sites in the UK, this is the responsibility of the operators who are regulated by the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. The UK has in place a stringent regulatory regime which provides for the application of high standards of safety aimed both at minimising radiation exposures from normal operations and at preventing major accidental releases of radioactivity at nuclear installations.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is nominated lead Minister under National Response Plan arrangements in the unlikely event of a nuclear accident overseas. The UK has in place measures for the early notification of an accident overseas and contingency plans to deal with such an event.

Plutonium Shipment

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what role the UK Government played in (a) reviewing and (b) approving the security arrangements provided by the United States and France aboard the Pacific Teal and Pacific Pintail.

Mike O'Brien: As UK-flagged vessels were used, the UK Government were responsible for the security of the shipment in international waters. At those times when the vessels were within the territorial waters of the United States and France, the main responsibility for the protection of the shipment rested with the United States and France respectively. The on-board security arrangements at these times were reviewed by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) with US/French authorities and were approved as part of the overall Transport Security Plan for the voyage.

Plutonium Shipment

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost was (a) of investigations and (b) in administration to the UK Government in preparation for the transport of plutonium from the United States to France aboard the Pacific Teal and Pacific Pintail.

Mike O'Brien: A number of Government Departments were involved in the planning for the shipment, although the bulk of the costs were incurred by my officials, particularly in the Office for Civil Nuclear Safety (OCNS), who reviewed, co-ordinated and eventually approved the Transport Security Plan for the voyage. OCNS costs will be recovered by BNFL.

Plutonium Shipment

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the transport ships, Pacific Teal and Pacific Pintail, were operating on Government service in recent movement of plutonium from the US to France.

Mike O'Brien: The shipment of plutonium between the United States and France using British registered PNTL ships was a commercial matter between the countries and organisations involved. The Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) approved the security plan for the voyage whilst the ships were in international waters.

Post Office Card Account

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people have applied for a Post Office Card Account in each (a) region and (b) ward.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information is not available in the format requested. I understand however from the Department for Work and Pensions that the latest information as to how many people have applied for a Post Office Card Account is available in the Library.

R and D Targets

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the planned Government expenditure on research and development is in each financial year from 2005–06 to 2009–10; what the expenditure is on (a) civil and (b) defence in each year; and what the planned Indicative UK contribution is to the European Union budget.

Nigel Griffiths: Planned Government expenditure on research and development (R and D) in 2005–06 is £9,293 million (in cash terms). Of this, £6,400 million is civil R and D and £2,894 million is defence R and D.
	The Office for National Statistics collects data on Government expenditure on research and development via their GOVERD survey. Government Departments and Research Councils report on actual expenditures in the previous financial year, estimated expenditure in the current year and planned expenditure in the two subsequent years. Hence the latest year for which reliable, detailed projections currently exist is 2005–06.
	The 2005 EC budget has not yet been adopted, the preliminary draft budget indicates a UK gross contribution of 17.91 per cent. before abatement. UK contributions to the EC budget for the period 2006 to 2010 will depend on a number of factors, including the size of the budget in these years, Traditional Own Resources, VAT and GNI-based payments and the UK abatement.

Renewable Energy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what initiatives her Department is supporting to develop renewable energy provision in the South West region.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 30 November 2004
	The development of renewable energy in the South West benefits from the range of initiatives which my Department has put in place to support delivery of the Government's target for 10 per cent. of UK electricity supply in 2010 to come from renewable sources. They include:
	The Renewables Obligation, which places a requirement on electricity suppliers to produce a specified and growing proportion of their electricity from renewable sources.
	Capital grants for renewables projects such as biomass. My Department is supporting a number of projects in the South West.
	In addition, my Department has supported key regional partners (South West Regional Development Agency, Government Office for the South West, South West Regional Assembly) in the development of a regional renewable energy strategy for the South West of England. This sets targets for renewable energy in the region and contains an action plan showing how regional partners will work together to deliver them. A renewables agency, RegenSW, has been established in the region to oversee delivery of the strategy.

Retail Outlets

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent research she has commissioned concerning ownership of retail outlets in the high street.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not commissioned any recent research concerning ownership of retail outlets in the high street. Competition issues raised about ownership of retail outlets are a matter for the independent competition authorities to consider.

Supermarkets

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions her Department has had with the Office of Fair Trading concerning the investigation of actions by the five major supermarkets in relation to their small and medium-sized competitors.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 1 December 2004
	The Department of Trade and Industry discusses a range of issues of mutual interest with officials of the Office of Fair Trading.
	The OFT is currently carrying out an independent audit of the Supermarket Code of Practice. That audit is also examining Supermarkets dealings with their suppliers, and we expect the OFT to announce its findings shortly. It would not be appropriate for me to comment in advance of those findings.

Tesco

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations she has received concerning the share of the retail market held by Tesco.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Ministers receive a range of representations from members of the public, MPs and other stakeholders on issues related to supermarkets. Any competition issues raised in this sector are a matter for the independent competition authorities.

UK High Technology Fund

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial provision has been made for the UK High Technology Fund in each year since its inception; and what the uptake was in each year.

Nigel Griffiths: The UK Government provided a total of £20 million to the UK High Technology Fund.
	This provision was drawn down by the UK High Technology Fund over two years:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1999 3,000,000 
			 2000 17,000,000

Wind Turbine Projects

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance her Department is giving to encourage UK firms to compete in the provision of wind turbine projects in England.

Mike O'Brien: There are significant opportunities for UK companies to win a share of the developing onshore and offshore markets. We are working to help UK companies win business in the very competitive wind turbine market. We have published a series of market reports which have identified opportunities for UK businesses and delivered a programme of meet the buyer events which has given UK companies the opportunity to meet the major turbine manufacturers and to discuss supply requirements. DTI also maintains close links with RDA's and regional renewable champions to assist in developing business and identifying inward investment opportunities—which can also create business for UK industry.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Equatorial Guinea

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions were taken to establish whether UK nationals were involved in the (a) October 2003 and (b) March 2004 coup attempts in Equatorial Guinea; and what the results were of the investigations.

Jack Straw: holding answer 30 November 2004
	I refer the right hon. and learned Gentleman to the written statement I made on Equatorial Guinea on 1 December 2004, Official Report, column 37WS.

European Commission (Departmental Press Releases)

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the Whitehall Departments whose default setting is just to put out press releases attacking the European Commission as mentioned by the Minister of Europe in his interview with the Financial Times on 17 November.

Denis MacShane: No.

European Constitution

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  why the official text of the EU Treaty on the European Constitution published by the EU differs from the version on the internet; and when he intends to place the UK Government's text of the treaty on the internet;
	(2)  how many versions of the treaty establishing the European Constitution his Department has published; what further revisions he expects to be made; and when he anticipates that a final version will be published.

Denis MacShane: The Government have striven to provide Parliament with the most up to date texts of the EU constitution since the beginning of treaty negotiations. In doing so, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has published two versions of the treaty as Command Papers. These are the Convention's draft (CONV 850/03) and the Provisional Consolidated Version of the Treaty (CIG86/04) as agreed on 17 June at the European Council. Subsequent revisions of the treaty in light of the jurist-linguist process have been deposited in the Library of the House as they have been published. The most up to date versions of the treaty have also been posted on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk, the current version posted being the most recent, CIG87/2/04. The Government have now received the final treaty (the text of which is identical to CIG87/2/04) signed on 29 October and sealed on 8 November and are currently preparing this as a Command Paper to be deposited in Parliament as soon as possible.

European Union

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will announce the logo for the UK Presidency of the EU in July 2005.

Denis MacShane: The logo will be made public in early 2005.

Hamas

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he had prior knowledge of recent EU discussions with Hamas; and what assessment he has made of the implications of these discussions for dealing with problems involving proscribed organisations under UK terrorist legislation.

Bill Rammell: The Government were aware of EU contacts with Hamas before Hamas was placed on the European Union's list of terrorist organisations in September 2003. These contacts were to support Palestinian Authority efforts to improve security for both Israelis and Palestinians. Since these contacts ceased before the listing, they did not create a problem in relation to our national policy on contacts with proscribed organisations.

Nagaland

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) recent attacks on Christians and (b) the overall security situation in Nagaland.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 29 November 2004
	The UK Government condemn the persecution of individuals or groups because of their religion or beliefs. The UK Government believe that the democratic process in India is the best protection for a peaceful and secure country. The Government have raised the issues of minorities with the Indian Government, and will continue to urge the Indian authorities to ensure that the right to freedom of religion is upheld, and that those responsible for attacks on religious minorities are brought to justice. The UK Government welcome the remarks by Dr. Manmohan Signh in his first press conference as Prime Minister, when he said
	"We are the most tolerant civilisation and we cannot divide people on the basis of religion and race."
	The British High Commission in India continues to monitor developments in Nagaland. A ceasefire remains in place and this has led to a significant improvement in the security situation. A tragic bombing incident took place in Dimapur in early October, which we have strongly condemned. Although the culprits are yet to be identified local observers believe that the incident was perpetrated by outsiders and does not signal a general return to violence. Discussions are proceeding between the Government of India and one of the major militant factions on a political resolution of the conflict. The British High Commissioner visited Nagaland from 13–15 November to update himself on developments.

Turkey/Greece

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to Turkey about the recent Turkish (a) air force violations of Greek airspace and (b) coastguard violations of Greek territorial waters; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no recent discussions on this issue with Turkey.
	The Government welcomes the contacts which continue between the Governments of Greece and Turkey with a view to the consolidation of improvements in bilateral relations.

Vietnam

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organisation.

Denis MacShane: The Government strongly support Vietnam's accession into the WTO. It believes the WTO delivers benefits for all its members, particularly developing countries. We are pleased that on 9 October the European Commission, which has exclusive competence in such bilateral negotiations on behalf of the EU, agreed bilateral access aspects of the WTO accession for Vietnam. The EU is Vietnam's biggest trading partner and is one of the first to settle bilateral access negotiations with Vietnam.
	The Government will continue to support Vietnam's accession as it seeks to conclude bilateral negotiations with a number of other important WTO members (including China, Japan, Australia and the US). The Department for International Development is supporting analytical work on the accession tariff reduction options and possible implications for policies, including social and poverty impacts, in Vietnam.
	Vietnam's terms for acceding to the WTO will be based upon the outcome of these bilateral negotiations together with agreement reached at the multilateral level within the WTO Working Party. If agreement is reached at both these levels then we hope Vietnam will accede to the WTO after the organisation's ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December 2005.

DEFENCE

EU Budget (Defence)

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the EU budget the UK has agreed should be apportioned to defence and military operations.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 29 November 2004
	None. Expenditure arising from EU operations having military or defence implications is not charged to the EU budget, as set out in Article 28.3 of the Treaty on the European Union.

Headline Goal 2010

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what scenarios have been adopted by the EU military staff as a basis for force planning to meet the Headline Goal 2010.

Geoff Hoon: The following illustrative scenarios form the basis for force planning to meet the Headline Goal 2010:
	Separation of Parties by Force
	Stabilisation, reconstruction and military advice to third countries
	Conflict Prevention
	Evacuation Operation in a non permissive environment
	Assistance to Humanitarian Operations.

Infantry Units

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  into which infantry units the 550 posts freed up from the four redundant regiments would be transferred; and how many are expected to be transferred to (a) logistics, (b) engineers, (c) signals and (d) intelligence;
	(2)  what the establishment figures are for the next three years for (a) logistics, (b) engineers, (c) signals and (d) intelligence.

Geoff Hoon: 537 posts will be reinvested back into the infantry as follows:
	
		
			  Number of posts 
		
		
			 Armoured Infantry 154 
			 Mechanised Infantry 69 
			 Light Infantry 257 
			 Air Assault 48 
			 Pathfinder Platoon 9 
		
	
	The establishments of individual infantry battalions have yet to be determined.
	The Army is working on the detail for the Royal Logistic Corps, the Royal Engineers, the Royals Corps of Signals and the Intelligence Corps. Once the numbers have been finalised, I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Parachute Battalion (Deployment)

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when was the last time that a parachute battalion force was deployed on operations using parachutes as the main entry into the theatre; and what the theatre of operation was;
	(2)  how many in role parachute battalions there are in the Army.

Adam Ingram: The last time a battalion of the Parachute Regiment deployed on operations using parachutes as the main entry into the theatre was during the Suez crisis in November 1956. As my hon. Friend will be aware, elements of the Parachute Regiment are traditionally held at very high readiness and are often among the first forces to deploy in any operational theatre.
	I am sure my hon. Friend will also recall that approximately 1,000 paratroopers from the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade parachuted into Northern Iraq in March 2003 and seized an air field in Kurdish controlled territory less than 30 miles from the Turkish border; clearly demonstrating that this method remains a valid form of entry in to an operational theatre.
	There are currently three battalions of the Parachute Regiment in an airborne role.

Regiments

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he intends to reduce the number of battalions in the (a) Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, (b) Royal Anglian Regiment and (c) Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding reply 30 November 2004
	As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced in July, the reduction in the number of forces committed to Northern Ireland means that the overall requirement for infantry battalions can be reduced by four. This reduction will comprise one battalion from Scotland and three from England.
	In addition, the decision to phase out the Infantry Arms Plot means that a new infantry structure is required. This new structure will seek to preserve the best elements of the regimental system while adapting to ensure operational success for the future. The new structure will be based on large regiments of two or more battalions. Details of the new organisation are still being worked through but we hope to make an announcement before the Christmas Recess.

Trident

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made on the future use of Trident.

Geoff Hoon: The Government's policy on nuclear weapons was set out in the Strategic Defence Review. I refer my hon, Friend to Chapter Four and Supporting Essay Five.

HOME DEPARTMENT

National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of members on the board of the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction have expertise in the area of replacement.

Patricia Hewitt: I have been asked to reply.
	The National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction (NC3Rs) is committed to advancing and implementing the principles of all three of the 3Rs (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of the use of Animals in Research). Membership of its Board is intended to reflect this remit. Members are appointed in a personal capacity and have expertise in a range of issues relating to the 3Rs, including five members with experience in replacement alternatives. When additional expertise in any area is needed this will be sought through consultation.

HEALTH

Asthma

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the asthma indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework for general practitioners; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The Department has not received any formal representations on the asthma indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF).
	An independent review group is being established to make recommendations for changes to the QOF. Recommendations which are agreed can be implemented from April 2006.
	The independent review group has being set up by the Employers Organisation (EO), on behalf of the Department. As far as we are aware, the EO has not yet received any representations on the asthma indicators in the QOF.

Asthma

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will include criteria on self-management and inhaler technique in the asthma indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator Asthma 6 provides up to 20 points, worth £1,550 to an average practice, to practices which ensure that their patients with asthma have an asthma review every 15 months. The QOF supplementary documents state that this asthma review should include the assessment of inhaler technique and the creation of a personalised care plan, which may include self-management, where appropriate.
	In addition, QOF indicator chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), provides up six points, worth £465 to an average practice, to practices which ensure that their patients with COPD who are receiving inhaled treatment have their inhaler technique checked every 27 months.

Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many (a) managers and (b) other staff resigned from Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002 and (iii) 2003;
	(2)  how many (a) managers and (b) staff had their duties reassigned by Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002 and (iii) 2003.

Rosie Winterton: Information about the number of managers and other staff who have resigned from Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust or had their duties reassigned is not centrally held.

Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust has in place to deal with complaints made to it by members of the public.

Rosie Winterton: All national health service bodies, including NHS trusts, are required to have a complaints procedure in line with the National Health Service (Complaints) Regulations 2004, which came into force on 30 July 2004. Prior to the regulations, they were required by directions to have a complaints procedure.
	The regulations are supported by national guidance published by the Department, and set out the statutory framework for the handling of complaints by NHS bodies, and the independent review of complaints by the Healthcare Commission, where local resolution has been unsuccessful in resolving matters.
	The regulations require NHS trusts to have a written complaints procedure that is freely available to anyone who asks for it.
	More information about regulations 2004, and departmental guidance is available on the Department's website at http://www.dh.gov.uk.

Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mental health beds were available in Buckinghamshire in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003; and what the average occupancy rates were in each year.

Rosie Winterton: The average daily number of available beds and occupancy rates for Buckinghamshire is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Mental health beds available Average occupancy rate (percentage) 
		
		
			 2001–02 221 89.2 
			 2002–03 261 89.0 
			 2003–04 254 88.0 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures are only available for financial years rather than calendar years.
	2. The figures are based on the three Buckinghamshire trusts—Buckinghamshire mental health trust, South Buckinghamshire national health service trust and Stoke Mandeville Hospital NHS trust.
	Source:
	Department of Health hospital activity data.

Children's Hospices

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of how many terminally ill children are waiting to be placed in a children's hospice;
	(2)  how many hospice beds are available for terminally ill children in (a) England, (b) the South West region and (c) Dorset; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many terminally ill children have died in each of the past five years in (a) a hospice and (b) a hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: Information is not collected centrally on the number of terminally ill children waiting to be placed in a children's hospice, the number of hospice beds available for terminally ill children or the number of terminally ill children who have died in hospital or a hospice in the last five years. The national service framework (NSF) for children, which we published on 15 September, is a 10-year strategy which recognises that high quality palliative care services should be available for all children and young people who need them. Children's hospices have an important place in the network of services that need to work together to provide palliative care. The NSF emphasises that services should be provided where the child or family want—in the home, or in a hospital, hospice or other setting. With the substantial growth money we are investing in the national health service and in the light of "National Standards, Local Action", our health and social care standards and planning framework, primary care trusts have the flexibility to plan how full implementation of the NSF will be achieved to meet local needs.

Children's Hospices

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the time scale is for the implementation of the recommendations made by the Health Select Committee in its Fourth Report of Session 2003–04 on Palliative Care, HC454, with particular reference to palliative care services for children; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: Palliative care for children is covered in the national service framework (NSF) for children, young people and maternity services, which we published on 15 September. As stated in the Government's response to the Select Committee report, the NSF recognises the importance of high quality standards and service provision in the transition from adolescent to adult services and that parents of children with a terminal illness may require additional support. We have set a 10-year time scale for the full implementation of the NSF. With the substantial growth money we are investing in the NHS and in the light of "National Standards, Local Action", our health and social care standards and planning framework, primary care trusts have the flexibility to plan how full implementation of the NSF will be achieved to meet local needs.

Community Pharmacy Contract

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the new community pharmacy contract will incorporate elements of the pharmaceutical public health strategy, as described in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 45.

Rosie Winterton: The new pharmacy contractual framework is being implemented from April 2005. It provides a sound platform for community pharmacy to expand its contribution to improving health, working at the heart of local communities. The framework provides real opportunities to offer health messages and advice on matters such as stopping smoking, diet, alcohol and physical activity to people presenting prescriptions with, for example, diabetes, coronary heart disease and supporting people in making healthy lifestyle choices to improve their health.
	The strategy for pharmaceutical public health will be published in 2005. It will demonstrate how all pharmacists, their staff and the premises in which they work can contribute to improving health and reducing health inequalities. Following publication, we will invite the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and National Health Service Confederation to consider with us any further necessary steps to ensure the new contractual framework fully reflects the strategy.

Diabetes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a statement on the European Council of Health Ministers' statement on diabetes; and if there will be a similar Council statement after the next meeting in December.

Rosie Winterton: The European Council of Health Ministers' statement described the health impacts of diabetes, its risk factors, and the predicted rise in prevalence of the condition across Europe. Using cardiovascular disease and cancer strategies as examples, the paper also suggested a European strategy for diabetes.
	We are aware that the incidence of diabetes is rising. The national service framework (NSF) for diabetes aims to provide a world-class service for people with diabetes in England. The diabetes NSF was published in two parts: the standards document, published in December 2001, set out 12 standards in nine areas, covering the prevention, identification and management of diabetes, and surveillance for and management of its complications. The delivery strategy, published in January 2003, builds on the standards and offers the framework for a systematic programme of reform. The delivery strategy advocates how local progress can be made to ensure that the national health service is able to reach the NSF Standards by 2013.
	I understand there are no plans to make a similar statement at the Council's next meeting.

European Constitution

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a statement on the effect of the coming into force of the European Constitution on the operation of his Department, with reference to (a) changes in legislative competence, (b) the extension of qualified majority voting, (c) the increased legislative role of the European Parliament, (d) the cost of implementation of regulations, (e) the requirements of adherence to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and (f) the quantity of legislation originating in the EU institutions.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 29 November 2004, Official Report, columns 10–11W.

Food Additives

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effects of over-consumption of (a) potassium sorbate and (b) sodium benzoate; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The authorisation process for food additives, including potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate, is designed to protect against over consumption. An acceptable daily intake (ADI) is established, by independent experts, which represents the amount of the additive that can be consumed daily over a lifetime without appreciable risk to health. For many food additives, including potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate, strict limits are set on the amount that can be added to different types of food to ensure that ADIs are not exceeded.

Fuel Poverty

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact of fuel poverty on health; and what research his Department has (a) received and (b) supported into the impact of fuel poverty interventions on health.

Melanie Johnson: It is well known that fuel poverty is a significant contributor to excess winter mortality. In addition, it is likely that there are other more subtle effects on health arising from fuel poverty.
	The Department is represented on the steering group of the health impact evaluation of "Warm Front", jointly commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Welsh Assembly. Its objectives are
	To evaluate the impact of key "Warm Front" interventions on householders' quality of life, mental and physical health, and risk of cold-related death.
	To identify the potential of energy efficiency measures in general to improve householders' health and quality of life.
	To assess the impact of key "Warm Front" interventions on the utilisation of health care services.

Health Poverty Index

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what ways the Health Poverty Index, as described in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 28, will differ from the health deprivation and disability domain indices contained within the Index of Multiple Deprivation produced by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Melanie Johnson: The Health Poverty Index includes the same indicators of the state of health and disability contained in the Index of Multiple Deprivation plus additional indicators, not available in the Index of Multiple Deprivation that measures the potential for good health or the risk of ill health. The Health Poverty Index is now available at http://www.hpi.org.uk.

Health Trainers

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the cost of employing NHS accredited health trainers;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of NHS health trainers, as defined in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, which will be needed to provide universal access for those entitled to NHS care for this service; and what criteria NHS health trainers will be required to meet to obtain accreditation;
	(3)  what consultation his Department has had with (a) primary care and (b) general practice bodies on the establishment of NHS health trainers; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The Choosing Health consultation prompted many recommendations from specialist task groups and responses from organisations and the wider public. Representatives from primary care were involved in the primary care task group and responses to the Choosing Health consultation document were received from across the national health service.
	A key theme in the recommendations and replies was the need to promote health and healthy lifestyles and for the NHS to take a lead. As a response to those views, the White Paper, Choosing Health, announced the establishment of NHS health trainers. We will be working with the Faculty of Public Health and other appropriate professional bodies as the detailed plans for NHS health trainers are developed.
	From 2006, NHS trainers will be providing support to people in disadvantaged areas and progressively from 2007 across the country. This will involve a mix of full and part-time accredited NHS trainers and others, for example, trainers working in the voluntary sector, some of whom could carry out this role as part of their main job. There is no firm figure for the total number of accredited trainers as there will be a number of different models for delivering this service. During 2005–06, we will be piloting local models.
	The method of accreditation will be based on completion of formal training with built-in standards and quality assurance.
	The planning assumption, based on existing evidence and best practice, is that they will be broadly similar in salary and related employer costs to health care assistants and other NHS staff with comparable skills.

Health Trainers

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether NHS health trainer will be a title protected by the Health Professions Council; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: When the role of national health service health trainer is established and the competences and training agreed, it will be a matter for the Health Professions Council, as independent statutory regulator, to consider whether to recommend regulation with protection of title. The health trainer role will be piloted in spearhead primary care trusts from 2005.

Hospital Capacity

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take to ensure that hospital capacity matches increased demand in areas designated for high levels of new house building.

John Hutton: It is for strategic health authorities (SHAs) to ensure that capacity is in place to meet the needs of their local population and deliver the 2005–06 to 2006–07 planning framework.
	To support this, the Department, with SHAs, has developed guidance for local capacity planning. This recommends that, as a basis for capacity planning, SHAs need to model demand for services, including understanding changes to population and demographics.This guidance is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/08/28/32/04082832.pdf.
	The Department allocates revenue funding to primary care trusts (PCTs) on the basis of the relative needs of their populations. A weighted capitation formula is used to calculate PCT's target shares of available resources, based on population size, age and additional need, and unavoidable geographical variations in the cost of providing services, which then inform allocations.
	As announced to Parliament on 15 March 2004, an extra £20 million, per annum, of revenue funding in 2004–05 and 2005–06 will be allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs) and £20 million of capital resources in 2005–06 will be allocated to SHAs.
	The Department has also agreed to give priority to Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) growth areas for future local improvement finance trust schemes and to include a growth area adjustment for ODPM growth areas in the next round of PCT allocations.

Mental Health

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mentally ill young people aged between 16 and 18 years are held under the Mental Health Act 1983; what proportion of these people are held on adult psychiatric wards; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	In the three years to March 2006, we are investing some £300 million in child and adolescent mental services (CAMHS). Our plans to increase CAMHS provision will reduce the incidence of placing children and young people on adult psychiatric wards, but will take time to eliminate.
	Placing adolescents on adult psychiatric wards is sometimes necessary and acceptable for clinical or practical reasons. Our plans to increase CAMHS provision will help deliver the marker of good practice in the children's national service framework which states that
	' . . . young people who require admission to hospital for mental health care have access to appropriate care in an environment suited to their age and development'.

Mental Health

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has undertaken into (a) demand for and (b) the supply of infant mental health specialists; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: No such research has been undertaken. The Department's 2003 child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) mapping exercise found that of all the children being seen by CAMHS professionals, 6.5 per cent. were aged four years and under.
	We are committed to ensuring that CAMHS are able to provide high quality services for children in all age groups, including infancy. The children's national service framework recommends that:
	'Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities ensure that CAMH Tier 2 and 3 services with specialist expertise, are available to provide assessment and therapeutic support for infants/young children and their families to promote parent child relationships and address attachment difficulties'.

NHS Care Costs

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average time taken to complete an investigation into recompensing someone who has been inappropriately denied fully-funded NHS care was in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what percentage of cases notified by 31 March of people who may have been inappropriately denied fully-funded NHS care have been completed;
	(3)  what the latest available figures for progress with restitution cases in continuing care are;
	(4)  what percentage of cases of individuals who may have been inappropriately denied fully-funded NHS care had been fully investigated on the most recent date for which figures are available; and in what percentage of cases investigated recompense has been granted;
	(5)  how many complaints he has received since 1 January as part of the ongoing investigations into recompensing people inappropriately denied fully-funded NHS care; and how many such cases have been investigated to completion.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has been working with all strategic health authorities to ensure that they have robust processes in place to clear any backlog of pre-April cases and to process subsequent cases thoroughly, quickly and efficiently. I have no additional statistical information beyond that included in my written ministerial statement on continuing care on 16 September 2004, Official Report, columns 175–76WS.

NHS Staff

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what forecasts have been made by his Department's work force planners of the number of additional medical and nursing staff over the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: "Delivering the NHS Plan" included forecasts of expected growth in the national health service work force. By 2008, there are expected to be 15,000 more consultants and general practitioners (GPs) and 35,000 more qualified nurses and midwives. These expectations are headcounts and have not been broken down by year.
	The expected increase for nurses and midwives has been achieved early. Between September 2001 and March 2004, the number of headcount nurses and midwives increased by 46,978 and between September 2001 and June 2004, consultants and GPs has increased by 6,719.

NHS Staff

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) general medical practitioners and (b) practice nurses there were in each strategic health authority for each year since 1997, broken down by (i) whole-time equivalent and (ii) headcount.

John Hutton: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

NHS Staff

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) hospital, public health medicine and community health service (HCHS) medical and dental staff, (b) consultants and (c) HCHS qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff there were in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) whole time equivalent and (ii) headcount in each (A) NHS Trust and (B) Strategic Health Authority.

John Hutton: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

NHS Walk-in Centres

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new NHS walk-in centres his Department plans to establish; where the new centres will be sited; and which groups will be permitted to bid to run them.

John Hutton: National health service walk-in centres are now an established service. There are 61 centres open and a further 21 in development by primary care trusts, with more to follow in future years. Alongside this, the Department has invited proposals from potential providers to establish NHS walk-in centres whose services will focus on the working population. The initial seven centres will be located in London, Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester.

Nosocomial Viruses

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nosocomial cases of small round structured viruses there were in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997.

Melanie Johnson: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has a voluntary reporting system for outbreaks of gastroenteritis, including those caused by norovirus, formerly known as small round structured virus, norwalk or norwalk-like virus.
	Since January 1997 to 25 November 2004, there have been 874 outbreaks of gastroenteritis in hospitals caused by norovirus, affecting 24,076 people. The information, broken down by region and year, is shown in the table. Data broken down by strategic health authority or month are not available. Studies of outbreaks of norovirus in hospitals suggest about 40 per cent. of cases occur in staff.
	
		Table 1: Number of outbreaks of gastroenteritis due to norovirus in hospitals in England by region 1997–2004
		
			 Region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004(7) Total 
		
		
			 East Midlands 0 2 1 2 0 4 2 2 13 
			 East of England 3 1 3 14 13 52 12 6 104 
			 London 1 0 0 1 10 33 4 2 51 
			 North East 5 15 11 10 19 30 3 9 102 
			 North West 5 3 0 12 26 72 25 16 159 
			 South East 11 15 12 4 2 57 2 5 108 
			 South West 16 34 59 53 1 41 1 2 207 
			 West Midlands 10 7 0 0 0 24 1 1 43 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1 0 5 14 5 61 1 0 87 
			 Total 52 77 91 110 76 374 51 43 874 
		
	
	(7) Provisional
	
		Table 2: Number of people affected in outbreaks of gastroenteritis due to norovirus in hospitals in England by region 1997–2004
		
			 Region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004(8) Total 
		
		
			 East Midlands 0 18 12 48 0 300 21 15 414 
			 East of England 62 234 272 258 439 1,470 184 118 3,037 
			 London 23 0 0 17 256 932 276 108 1,612 
			 North East 98 629 304 146 343 833 61 216 2,630 
			 North West 196 23 0 470 472 1,655 236 416 3,468 
			 South East 229 433 153 45 80 1,439 44 302 2,725 
			 South West 272 696 1,312 957 100 1,853 126 425 5,741 
			 West Midlands 284 152 0 0 0 1,635 18 21 2,110 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 25 0 148 544 57 1,524 41 0 2,339 
			 Total 1,189 2,185 2,201 2,485 1,747 11,641 1,007 1,621 24,076 
		
	
	(8) Provisional

Out-patients (Travel Costs)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what help is available towards reimbursing travel costs for the transportation of children to hospital clinics for out-patient treatment following a serious operation, when the care and treatment required is not available locally.

Stephen Ladyman: The same help is available for both child and adult patients requiring help with transport to an out-patient clinic following a serious operation.
	This is determined firstly by the patient's medical need for the use of the patient transport service, as assessed by a doctor, dentist or midwife. If the patient does not have a medical need for patient transport but is eligible for help under the hospital travel costs scheme, they should claim via the national health service trust, within three months of travel, for a reimbursement.

Paediatric Services

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paediatric allergy specialists there are in England; and what the ratio is of paediatric allergy specialists per child in England.

John Hutton: Paediatric allergy is a sub-specialty of paediatrics. Sub-specialty level data are not collected by the Department.

Paediatric Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) headcount and (b) whole-time equivalent medical staff there were in the NHS in England working within the paediatrics group of specialties in each year since 1992, broken down by region; and how many there were per head of population.

John Hutton: The standard ratio used by the Department is per 100,000 population. The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		Hospital Public Health Medicine and Community Health Services (HCHS): Medical staff within the paediatrics group by Government office region and per 100,000 population: England as at 30 September
		
			 Number (headcount) 
			  1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 
		
		
			 England 2,819 3,106 3,350 3,892 4,011 4,344 
			 of which:   
			 East Midlands 139 165 248 294 325 333 
			 East of England 163 206 237 293 324 350 
			 London 393 504 713 848 852 937 
			 North East 116 149 191 221 251 272 
			 North West 337 380 442 515 589 610 
			 South East 283 355 421 510 601 655 
			 South West 203 223 266 327 330 354 
			 West Midlands 175 220 291 339 367 417 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 218 267 316 353 369 413 
			 Other 792 637 225 192 3 3 
		
	
	
		Number (headcount)
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 England 4,542 4,750 5,027 5,127 5,608 5,960 
			 of which:   
			 East Midlands 347 355 368 378 402 425 
			 East of England 381 382 403 431 482 498 
			 London 989 1,108 1,204 1,227 1,354 1,407 
			 North East 272 294 324 343 337 355 
			 North West 656 670 736 695 731 801 
			 South East 694 698 730 734 796 827 
			 South West 387 391 407 410 479 485 
			 West Midlands 404 434 433 443 496 554 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 412 418 422 466 531 608 
			 Other — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		Number per 100,000 population 
		
			  1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 
		
		
			 England 5.9 6.5 6.9 8.0 8.3 8.9 
			 of which:   
			 East Midlands 3.4 4.1 6.1 7.2 7.9 8.1 
			 East of England 3.2 4.0 4.6 5.6 6.2 6.6 
			 London 5.8 7.4 10.4 12.3 12.2 13.4 
			 North East 4.5 5.7 7.4 8.6 9.7 10.6 
			 North West 4.9 5.6 6.5 7.5 8.6 9.0 
			 South East 3.7 4.6 5.5 6.6 7.7 8.3 
			 South West 4.3 4.7 5.6 6.8 6.9 7.3 
			 West Midlands 3.3 4.2 5.5 6.4 7.0 7.9 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 4.4 5.4 6.4 7.1 7.4 8.3 
			 Other n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		Number per 100,000 population
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 England 9.3 9.7 10.2 10.4 11.3 12.0 
			 of which:   
			 East Midlands 8.4 8.5 8.8 9.0 9.5 10.0 
			 East of England 7.2 7.2 7.5 8.0 8.9 9.1 
			 London 14.0 15.5 16.6 16.8 18.4 19.0 
			 North East 10.6 11.5 12.7 13.5 13.3 14.0 
			 North West 9.7 9.9 10.9 10.3 10.8 11.8 
			 South East 8.8 8.8 9.1 9.1 9.9 10.2 
			 South West 8.0 8.0 8.3 8.3 9.6 9.7 
			 West Midlands 7.7 8.2 8.2 8.4 9.4 10.4 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 8.3 8.4 8.5 9.4 10.6 12.1 
			 Other n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		Whole-time equivalents
		
			  1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 
		
		
			 England 2,559 2,833 3,070 3,551 3,680 4,018 
			 of which:   
			 East Midlands 124 149 227 265 296 302 
			 East of England 151 191 219 268 299 327 
			 London 360 462 652 789 790 871 
			 North East 108 140 178 206 235 258 
			 North West 311 351 409 469 539 568 
			 South East 243 314 379 444 526 588 
			 South West 179 202 242 302 308 323 
			 West Midlands 154 203 273 317 347 394 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 203 249 296 322 337 384 
			 Other 727 572 194 169 3 3 
		
	
	
		Whole-time equivalents
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 England 4,196 4,365 4,590 4,645 5,155 5,516 
			 of which:   
			 East Midlands 310 324 335 334 368 389 
			 East of England 353 351 374 397 448 463 
			 London 923 1,015 1,074 1,105 1,235 1,309 
			 North East 259 258 304 321 314 330 
			 North West 609 624 679 646 677 741 
			 South East 625 641 648 639 718 753 
			 South West 355 356 372 370 441 440 
			 West Midlands 378 406 408 409 460 526 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 384 389 397 423 493 565 
			 Other — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		Whole-time equivalent numbers per 100,000 population
		
			  1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 
		
		
			 England 5.3 5.9 6.4 7.3 7.6 8.3 
			 of which:   
			 East Midlands 3.1 3.7 5.6 6.5 7.2 7.3 
			 East of England 2.9 3.7 4.2 5.2 5.7 6.2 
			 London 5.3 6.8 9.5 11.4 11.3 12.4 
			 North East 4.2 5.4 6.9 8.0 9.1 10.0 
			 North West 4.5 5.1 6.0 6.9 7.9 8.4 
			 South East 3.2 4.1 4.9 5.7 6.7 7.5 
			 South West 3.8 4.3 5.1 6.3 6.4 6.7 
			 West Midlands 2.9 3.9 5.2 6.0 6.6 7.5 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 4.1 5.0 6.0 6.5 6.8 7.7 
			 Other n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		Whole-time equivalent numbers per 100,000 population
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 England 8.6 8.9 9.3 9.4 10.4 11.1 
			 of which:   
			 East Midlands 7.5 7.8 8.0 8.0 8.7 9.1 
			 East of England 6.7 6.6 7.0 7.4 8.3 8.5 
			 London 13.1 14.2 14.8 15.1 16.8 17.7 
			 North East 10.1 10.1 11.9 12.6 12.4 13.0 
			 North West 9.0 9.2 10.0 9.5 10.0 10.9 
			 South East 7.9 8.1 8.1 8.0 8.9 9.3 
			 South West 7.3 7.3 7.6 7.5 .9 8.8 
			 West Midlands 7.2 7.7 7.7 7.7 8.7 9.9 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 7.8 7.8 8.0 8.5 9.9 11.3 
			 Other n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	Notes:
	"—" denotes zero
	n/a = not applicable. This is due to 'other' being made up of organisations which cannot be assigned to a government office region, therefore there are no applicable population data.
	Source:
	Department of Health medical and dental workforce census

Post Mortems

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he is giving to strategic health authorities and trusts in the south-west regarding the current capacity constraints in the carrying out of post mortems on babies and children.

Rosie Winterton: The Department is aware of the current capacity difficulties in paediatric pathology in the south-west of England, and is reassured that the local health community is taking steps to resolve them. More generally, the Department is addressing nationally the pressures facing this important subspecialty through initiatives to increase the number of histopathologists working in the national health service. These include the international fellowships programme, the histopathology training schools scheme and the conversion fellowships scheme. The latter is an innovative initiative to enable existing consultant histopathologists to re-train as paediatric pathologists.

Prisoners (Mental Health)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people are employed to treat mental health disorders in each prison establishment.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not available. Most healthcare staff working in prison establishments will be involved in some way in the care and treatment of prisoners with mental health problems. We have met, and exceeded, the commitment in the NHS Plan that, by 2004, 300 additional staff would be employed to provide mental health services for prisoners.

Prisoners (Mental Health)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mental health programmes are available to prisoners upon release from prison.

Stephen Ladyman: Released prisoners can access the full range of mental health services available to the population in which they become resident. An important function of national health service mental health in-reach teams working in prisons is to ensure effective through-care for prisoners with serious mental health problems, to be followed up by support from appropriate mental health services on release.

Prisoners (Mental Health)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prisoners have been (a) diagnosed with and (b) treated for mental health disorders in each year since 1997, broken down by prison establishment.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not available in the form requested. A survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales, undertaken in 1997 by the Office for National Statistics, showed that around 90 per cent. of prisoners sampled displayed evidence of at least one of the five disorders—personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence—considered in the survey. There will, at any one time, be around 5,000 prisoners with a severe mental illness, although not all of them will be acutely ill.
	Prison establishments and their local national health service partners are responsible for assessing the health needs of their populations and developing appropriate services to meet them. NHS-funded prison mental health in-reach teams were providing community type mental health services in 90 establishments in England by March 2004.

Prisoners (Mental Health)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on incidence of mental health disorders amongst ethnic minority prisoners.

Stephen Ladyman: In 1997, the Office for National Statistics undertook a survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales. The report of that survey, Psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales (1998), a copy of which is available in the Library, included a range of information on the prevalence of specific mental health problems in black and minority ethnic prisoners.

Prisoners (Mental Health)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of mental health service (a) provision and (b) interventions in prisons.

Stephen Ladyman: The current model of service, that of a community mental health team, used in prisons reflects the current model of choice in contemporary mental health services in the national health service. An independent academically led project to evaluate the effectiveness of prison mental health services has begun.

Prisoners (Mental Health)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what programmes are in place to ensure swift identification of prisoners with mental health disorders upon arrival at prison establishments; and which prison establishments operate such programmes.

Stephen Ladyman: The Prison Service and the Department are introducing a revised reception health screening process designed to identify prisoners with immediate health care needs, or who are at significant risk of a serious health problem. The new process focuses explicitly on ensuring prompt and effective identification of individuals with mental health problems.
	The new reception screening arrangements have been introduced at the following establishments in England: Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Glen Parva, Holme House, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, New Hall, Wandsworth, Brixton, Bedford, Lewes, Preston, Styal, Wormwood Scrubs, Woodhill, Dorchester, Exeter, Lincoln, Norwich, Pentonville, Hull, Chelmsford, Nottingham, Hindley, Altcourse, Blakenhurst, Bristol, Brinsford, Gloucester, Highdown, Forest Bank, Onley, Shrewsbury, Stoke Heath, Elmley, Brockhill, Bullingdon, Long Lartin, Lancaster Farms, Wetherby, Wakefield, Holloway, Belmarsh, Full Sutton, Huntercombe, Reading, Werrington, Low Newton, Kirkham, Morton Hall, Foston Hall. Work is under way to ensure that the new arrangements are in operation at the remainder of establishments that receive prisoners direct from court by April 2005.

Prisoners (Mental Health)

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which prisons operate permanent community mental health teams.

Stephen Ladyman: The following prison establishments in England, 90 in total, have established community mental health team (CMHT) format services as part of waves one, two and three of the national prison mental health programme.
	Wave one—introduced during 2001–02—Belmarsh, Birmingham, Brixton, Bullwood Hall, Chelmsford. Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Frankland, Holloway, Leeds, Leicester, Pentonville, Wandsworth, Winchester, Whitemoor, Woodhill and Wormwood Scrubs.
	Wave two—introduced during 2002–03—Ashfield, Bedford, Blakenhurst, Bristol, Brockhill, Dorchester, Exeter, Glen Parva, Holme House, Hull, Lewes, Lincoln, Liverpool, Long Lartin, Manchester, Moorland, New Hall, Norwich, Nottingham, Onley, Parkhurst, Portland, Preston, Rochester, Styal, and Wakefield.
	Wave three—introduced during 2003–04—Albany/Camp Hill, Altcourse, Aylesbury, Blantyre House, Brinsford, Buckley Hall, Bullingdon, Canterbury, Castington, Coldingley, Cookham Wood, Dartmoor, Deerbolt, Doncaster, Dovegate, Drake Hall, Elmley, Forest Bank, Foston Hall, Full Sutton, Garth, Gartree, Gloucester, Haverigg, Highdown, Highpoint North/Highpoint South, Hindley, Hollesley Bay/Warren Hill, Huntercombe, Kingston, Lancaster Farms, Littlehey, Low Newton, Maidstone, Northallerton, Reading, Risley, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stoke Heath, Swaleside, Swinfen Hall, Thorn Cross, Werrington, Wetherby, and Wolds.
	All remaining establishments—wave four—have now received funding for the commencement of CMHT format services, although, for some, such funding has been provided to facilitate an assessment of service need rather than a fully functional service. Not all establishments will require fully funded CMHT format services. Establishments where the need was highest were targeted in waves one to three.

Public Health White Paper

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to extend the policy objectives set out in the Public Health White Paper through EU-wide action.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 1 December 2004
	The Government will be working within the European Union to carry forward action on relevant policy objectives contained in the "Choosing Health" White Paper. We will also be pursuing wider White Paper aims through the United Kingdom presidency next year, notably through the public health theme, "Empowering People, Reducing Inequalities".

Residential and Nursing Homes

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential and nursing home beds were available in (a) England and (b) each local authority, at the end of each year since 1996–97.

Stephen Ladyman: Information showing the number of residential care home places in England and councils with social services responsibilities (CSSRs) for adults aged 18 and over, at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001, and the number of nursing home places in England and health authorities for adults aged 18 and over, at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001, has been placed in the Library.
	Figures for later years were collected by the National Care Standards Commission and now the Commission for Social Care Inspection, but comparable details are not available.

Sexual Health

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will encourage health authorities to use both molecular and serological techniques to detect chlamydia trachomatis;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the (a) cost and (b) diagnostic accuracy of (i) serology and (ii) antibody testing for chlamydia trachomatis;
	(3)  if he will commission a comparison of diagnostic techniques for chlamydia trachomatis covering all possible samples on persons of different ages from different socio-economic backgrounds;
	(4)  how much was spent on (a) screening and (b) molecular techniques in relation to chlamydia trachomatis in each of the last five years;
	(5)  if the Government will use some of the funds allocated for sexually transmitted diseases on comparing molecular and serological techniques in relation to chlamydia trachomatis;
	(6)  what methods are being assessed for detection of asymptomatic and deep-seated chlamydia trachomatis infections which molecular testing cannot detect.

Melanie Johnson: The latest evidence on the prevalence of chlamydia suggests that up to 300,000 sexually active 16 to 24-year-olds may have undiagnosed chlamydia, and addressing this is a priority for the Department, through the national chlamydia screening programme. The recently published White Paper on public health committed additional funding of £80 million to accelerate the roll-out of this programme by 2007.
	Evidence shows that the use of urine tests for chlamydia, such as the nucleic acid amplification test (NAATs), is the most appropriate and sensitive method to use for the national chlamydia screening programme, where the test has to be simple, safe, precise, validated and acceptable to the population being screened.
	The use of blood tests to diagnose chlamydia is undeniably useful in certain circumstances, for example, more detailed diagnostic testing in cases of infertility. The decision on the method of testing offered to patients, however, is a clinical one, made at the discretion of medical physicians, and will be made locally.
	The Government have no plans to commission a comparison of diagnostic techniques for chlamydia trachomatis, nor a comparison of molecular and serological techniques.
	The Department has invested £13.5 million in the national chlamydia screening programme over the three years 2002–03 to 2004–05, plus a further £7 million in 2004–05 to improve access to NAATs.

Telecommunications Masts

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to investigate the potential health hazards of telecommunications mast emissions.

Melanie Johnson: This year, the National Radiological Protection Board's (NRPB) independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR) reviewed all the research on possible health effects from exposure to radiofrequency fields since the Independent Expert Group on mobile phones and health (the Stewart Report) published in 2000. AGNIR concluded that "Exposure levels from living near to mobile phone base stations are extremely low and the overall evidence indicates that they are unlikely to pose a risk to health." Exposure measurements are documented on the websites of the NRPB at www.nrpb.org and Ofcom at www.ofcom.org.uk.
	The potential health effects of radiofrequency from mobile phone technology more generally are being investigated under the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Programme at www.mthr.org.uk. Two projects within this programme have been designed specifically to investigate the effects of exposure from mobile phone base stations.
	Summaries of ail the MTHR projects can be seen on the website.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Service (Pay Negotiations)

Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the estimated number of staff days in all departments, agencies and other civil service organisations involved in conducting pay negotiations across the civil service was in the period April 2003 to March 2004.

Ruth Kelly: Responsibility for pay and appraisal systems, outside of the senior civil service, is delegated to departments and agencies. This information is not held centrally as any negotiations that take place regarding pay arrangements are the responsibility of individual departments and agencies.

Civil Service Pensions

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how the figures for (a) public service-wide additional costs for future service of £150 million per annum and (b) a public service-wide one-off cost of £3 billion to cover all past service in respect of the amendment of the pre-2002 Civil Service Pension Scheme to allow widows and widowers of civil servants who remarry or cohabit to retain their pension rights were calculated; how soon the additional costs would taper off; and if she will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave him on 13 October 2004, Official Report, column 317W, which relates to the costs for public service schemes as a whole. Any change to Civil Service Pension arrangements would have implications for other public service schemes.
	The costs for the public service schemes as a whole break down into the following elements:
	(1) the cost of reinstating all widow(er) pensions already stopped following remarriage and
	(2) the cost of not stopping pensions for
	 (a) existing widow(er)s
	 (b) future widow(er)s of pensioners and deferred pensioners and
	 (c) future widow(er)s of active members
	The Government Actuary estimated "past service costs", that is, capitalised costs of items (1), (2)(a), (2)(b) and the accrued service element of item (2)(c) at around £3 billion in the year 2000.
	The future service element of item (2)(c) was estimated to cost an additional £150 million per year.
	For the pre 2002 Civil Service Pension Scheme alone, it is estimated that it will take about 10 years for the cash flow in relation to current pensioners to peak and then begin to taper off. For current active and deferred members it is estimated that the cash flow associated with past service costs would peak in around 25 years and then begin to taper off. Future service costs would continue for between 30 and 40 years.

Equal Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what (a) proportion and (b) number of departments, agencies and other civil service organisations carried out an equal pay audit or review in 2004; what steps are being taken in response to the reviews; and what plans she has for further periodic equality reviews.

Ruth Kelly: Every department and agency produced an equal pay action plan in 2003 as part of the Government's commitment to address the gender pay gap. Cabinet Office continues to encourage civil service organisations to monitor progress with their action plans and to review their pay systems following implementation of pay awards for equality proofing purposes.
	Responsibility for conducting equal pay audits and reviews, outside the senior civil service, is delegated to departments and agencies. Information regarding more recent equal pay audits will be held at a local level.

Parliamentary Questions

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many written questions for the Department were unanswered when Parliament Prorogued; and how many of the unanswered questions were tabled in each of the previous months of the 2003–04 Session.

Ruth Kelly: None.

Performance Assessment

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the difference was between average (a) men's and (b) women's performance assessment at each grade, band or salary range, broken down by (i) national and (ii) London rates in each department at the latest date for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the difference was between performance assessment by (a) ethnic group, (b) disabled and able-bodied and (c) part-time and full-time employees at each grade, band or salary range, broken down by (i) national and (ii) London rates in each Department at the latest date for which figures are available.

Ruth Kelly: Responsibility for pay and appraisal systems, outside of the senior civil service, is delegated to departments and agencies. The information requested is not held centrally as any analysis of performance assessments will be conducted at a local level.

Public Engagements

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many public engagements he has fulfilled since September.

Alan Milburn: holding answer 30 November 2004
	My recent public engagements have been:
	9 November 2004(Speech to the Institute of Public Policy Research at the University of London.
	11 November 2004(Regional visit to the south east.
	23 November 2004(Speech at the Guardian Public Services Awards, at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
	25 November 2004(Regional visit to Wales.
	30 November 2004(Speech at the Lunch of the Association of Chief Executive of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO), commission of Inquiry Report(the Guardian Newsroom.
	In addition and from time to time I meet individuals and organisations outside Government.

Special Advisers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what responsibilities he has given to his special adviser;
	(2)  what hours his special adviser is contracted to work for him in his ministerial capacity;
	(3)  whether his special adviser is paid on a full-time basis;
	(4)  whether his special adviser works for (a) him other than in his ministerial capacity and (b) any other Minister;
	(5)  whether his special adviser takes part in non-civil service political activity during hours in which he is contracted to work for him.

Alan Milburn: I have one full-time and one part-time special adviser. The adviser who works part-time also works for the Prime Minister. Both advisers are employed under terms and conditions set out in the Code of Conduct and Model Contract for Special Advisers. These documents set out details of working hours, involvement in political activities and duties and responsibilities.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether her Department monitors the compliance of .gov.uk websites with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Ruth Kelly: There is no centralised system of monitoring UK Government websites for compliance with the W3C's "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines" and the accessibility levels they define.
	The Cabinet Office published the "Guidelines for UK Government websites" in 2002 to assist public sector web developers with the application of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The Department has extensively promoted accessibility awareness and continues to keep web accessibility standards and technical developments under review. Responsibility for the application of the W3C's guidelines rests with individual Government Departments, agencies and local authorities.
	We have recently updated the terms and conditions for the use of .gov.uk domain names to require all new websites to maintain the high level of accessibility detailed in the Guidelines for UK Government websites.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether her Department's .gov.uk websites comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines adopted by the Government in 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Cabinet Office is responsible for 48 .gov.uk websites. 23 of these, including the main Cabinet Office site www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk, comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
	Under the Cabinet Office's Better Internet Project, all of the Department's websites will be fully WCAG compliant by mid 2006.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of local authority detected frauds resulted in prosecutions in each year since 1997.

Chris Pond: The number of cases of benefit fraud detected is not available. The number of cases resulting in prosecution and cases resulting in conviction is in the following table.
	
		Benefit fraud prosecutions by local authorities
		
			  Prosecutions Convictions 
		
		
			 1997–98 n/a 700 
			 1998–99 n/a 800 
			 1999–2000 n/a 900 
			 2000–01 n/a 1,100 
			 2001–02 2,101 1,732 
			 2002–03 3,187 2,503 
			 2003–04 4,601 3,747 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures for convictions prior to 2001–02 have been rounded to the nearest 100 because they include estimated values for non-responding local authorities.
	2. Figures for prosecutions which did not lead to conviction are not available prior to 2001–02.
	Source:
	From 2001–02 onwards the numbers are taken from local authority subsidy claim forms. Prior to this the numbers are taken from management information returns.

Benefit Fraud

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have claimed incapacity benefit in Pendle in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: The information is in the following table.
	
		Incapacity benefits claimants in the Pendle parliamentary constituency
		
			 May Number 
		
		
			 1997 5,700 
			 1998 5,800 
			 1999 5,400 
			 2000 5,300 
			 2001 5,600 
			 2002 5,400 
			 2003 5,300 
			 2004 5,400 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Figures include all incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance and IB national insurance credits only cases.
	3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. samples

Correspondence

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to the letter dated 26 August from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding the motability scheme.

Maria Eagle: I have replied to the hon. Member on 1 December 2004.

Disability Benefits

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living in the London borough of Wandsworth are receiving the disability income guarantee; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: The disability income guarantee is paid by means of enhanced disability premiums through income support, jobseeker's allowance (income based), housing benefit and council tax benefit.
	Housing benefit and council tax benefit information is not available below Government Office Region level.
	The information for income support and income-based jobseekers allowance is in the following table.
	
		Income support (IS) and jobseekers allowance (income based) (JSA(IB) claimants with an enhanced disability premium in London borough of Wandsworth at May 2004
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 IS and JSA(IB) 900 
			 IS 900 
			 JSA(IB) (9)— 
		
	
	(9) Figures are nil or negligible.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
	3. Figures include claimants in receipt of income-based JSA who would also be entitled to the contributory element.
	4. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. samples

Housing Benefit Matching Service

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which and what percentage of local authorities have yet to implement the Housing Benefit Matching Service.

Chris Pond: Of the 408 local authorities, Isles of Scilly is the only local authority that has not implemented the Housing Benefit Matching Service.

Low-income Households (Scotland)

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Department is on target to reduce the number of children in low-income households by at least a quarter by 2004 in (a) Scotland and (b) Midlothian.

Chris Pond: The Government has a PSA target at the national level to reduce the number of children in low-income households by at least a quarter by 2004–05, as a contribution towards the broader target of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020.
	Between the baseline year of 1998–99 and 2002–03 the number of children in low income households has fallen by 500,000 before housing costs and 600,000 after housing costs. We will report on the target in spring 2006 when the data for 2004–05 become available. However, our assessment is that we are broadly on course to meet our PSA target.
	Specific information regarding low income for the United Kingdom is available in 'Households Below Average Income 1994–95—2002–03'. Data are not available below the regional level. Only poverty rates are available at regional level rather than numbers of children in low income households. It should be noted that year on year changes in these regional poverty rates are not statistically significant. The data show that progress made in Scotland over the entire period 1998–99 to 2002–03 was in line with progress made in Great Britain over the same period.
	'Measuring child poverty', published in December 2003, outlines the Government's measure of UK child poverty for the long term. This new measure will begin from 2004–05. All publications listed are available in the Library.

Pathways to Work

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the nine areas piloting the Pathways to Work scheme have (a) been interviewed and (b) subsequently got jobs.

Maria Eagle: In total, there have been 5,600 job entries in the Pathways to Work Pilots to the end of August 2004. Of these 4,200 were in the first three Pilot Districts and 1,200 were in the four Pilot Districts in the second phase. The following table sets out how many Initial Work Focused Interviews have been attended and how many job entries have occurred subsequent to those Work Focused Interviews.
	
		Work Focussed Interviews and subsequent job starts in the seven Pathways to Work Pilots
		
			 Pilot district Initial Work Focused Interviews attended Job starts 
		
		
			 Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Argyll and Bute 2,820 450 
			 Bridgend, Rhondda, Cynon, Taff 2,920 420 
			 Derbyshire 3,210 410 
			 Gateshead 720 50 
			 East Lancashire 1,270 90 
			 Essex 1,380 60 
			 Somerset 650 50 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The first three Pathways to Work Pilots commenced on 27October 2003, the
	four Pilots in the second phase of Pathways to Work commenced on 5April
	2004.
	2. Work Focused Interviews should take place at around 8 weeks after the start of
	the benefit claim. This means that majority of benefits starts in July and August
	will not be included in the data.
	3. Initial Work Focused Interviews attended refers to the actual number of Work
	Focused Interviews that have taken place. Some individuals will have attended
	more than one Work Focused Interview. These will be people who have started more than one benefit spell since the start of Pathways to Work.
	4. Job Starts includes all recorded job entries plus Return to Work Credit (RTWC)
	awards for which no job entry is yet recorded. (By definition, an RTWC award
	must indicate that a job entry has occurred).
	5. The total number of job entries is higher than that recorded in the table. This
	table excludes job entries achieved with existing clients who had already
	started to claim benefit before the start of Pathways to Work.
	6. Job starts figures include job starts achieved through referral to New Deal for
	Disabled People (NDDP) job brokers.
	7. The job starts figures represent all job starts that have occurred subsequent to
	an initial Work Focused Interview within the same benefit spell.

Pathways to Work

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what assumptions his assertion that Pathways areas show twice the improvement in job entries of that in the rest of the country are based.

Maria Eagle: The improvement in the number of job entries in the Pathways to Work pilots is based on an analysis of the recorded number of job entries recorded by Jobcentre Plus, including those by New Deal for Disabled People job brokers, in the seven Pathways to Work pilot districts compared to non-pilot districts.
	The number of job entries recorded between November 2003 and September 2004 in the three Phase 1 pilot districts was 88 per cent. higher than for the corresponding period in the previous year. This compares to an increase of 32 per cent. over the same period for non-pilot districts.

Pension Protection Fund

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make a statement on the statutory basis under which the Pension Protection Fund would be able to charge pension protection levies designed to incentivise participating schemes to opt for a predominantly risk-based levy.

Malcolm Wicks: During the transitional period, well funded schemes will be able to reduce their overall levy charge by opting to pay the risk based pension protection levy rather than just the required scheme based pension protection levy.
	As more schemes opt to pay the risk based pension protection levy during the transitional period, the PPF will need to ensure that it adjusts the amounts paid to reflect the risk represented by those schemes who remain outside the risk regime. In this way we would anticipate that those schemes which opt only to pay the scheme-based pension protection levy will see the levy rate increase during the transitional period, thereby increasing the incentive for schemes to opt in to the risk-based regime.
	The statutory basis for this is given under sections 175, 177 and 180 of the Pensions Act 2004.

Social Fund

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to transfer to the pension service the administration of social fund claims from pensioners.

Chris Pond: All social fund applications are administered by Jobcentre Plus. We have no plans to change these arrangements. The pensions service will continue to ensure that pensioners have access to advice and help in completing the appropriate forms.

Winter Fuel Payments

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of eligible people who have not received backdated winter fuel payments for the first three years of the scheme; and what the value was of such payments.

Malcolm Wicks: We estimate that about 1.9 million people could have been eligible for backdated payments for the first three years of the scheme and about 1.2 million people have now been paid. There is no cut-off dates for these retrospective payments.
	It is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the numbers who have not claimed because the estimate of those newly eligible was based on sample data. It is up to the individual, where a claim is necessary, to decide whether or not to make that claim.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Building Regulations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of self-employed electricians who will be required to register as a competent person by 1 January 2005 under the requirements of Part P of the Building Regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: It is estimated that there are about 61,000 electrical contractors in England and Wales. There is no requirement to register; it is for each one to decide whether or not to do so. Those that choose not to register and carry out notifiable electrical work in dwellings after 1 January 2005 will need to submit a building notice to the local authority detailing the work they intend to carry out.

Building Regulations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of certification bodies to process the likely number of applicants to become competent persons under Part P of the Building Regulations; and whether compensation will be made available to applicants whose certification is delayed and who lose work as a result.

Phil Hope: The adequacy of the competent person operators to deal with applications to join the competent person schemes within a reasonable timescale was one of the criteria for authorisation of the schemes. There is no requirement to be registered in order to carry out electrical installation work in dwellings, no compensation will be payable.

Building Regulations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to permit self-employed electricians who have applied for competent person accreditation in accordance with Part P of the Building Regulations (a) to continue working on jobs which were already under way before 1 January 2005 and (b) to continue their trade pending the availability of the certification inspector to examine and process their application.

Phil Hope: There is a transitional period in the Regulations on Part P. Any work contracted for or started by 31 December 2004 will not be within the scope of the requirements of Part P so long as it is completed by 31 March 2005. In respect of work that does not fall within the transitional arrangements it will be necessary to submit a building notice to the local authority until an application to join a competent person self-certification scheme is approved.

Building Regulations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department has taken, and over what period, to ensure that self-employed electricians have (a) been made aware of and (b) been granted adequate time to apply for accreditation in accordance with Part P of the Building Regulations due to come into force on 1 January 2005.

Phil Hope: The Government issued a Consultation Document on proposals to regulate electrical installation work in dwellings in May 2002. All the electrical trade bodies were consulted on the proposals and would have made their members aware of them. The Government formally announced in July 2003 that they had decided to introduce Part P of the Building Regulations. Throughout this period there have been many articles about the introduction of Part P in the trade press.
	The Government authorised five competent person self-certification schemes to which electricians could choose to apply in July 2004. All have been accepting and assessing applications since that time. Those electricians that applied in good time should have their application approved before 1 January unless it was defective.

E-delivery

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how much money his Office has given to local authorities in North Yorkshire to achieve e-delivery.

Phil Hope: Each local authority in North Yorkshire has received £750,000 in Implementing Electronic Government (IEG) grants, and can expect to receive a final IEG grant of £150,000 in 2005–06. In addition, a grant of £750,000 was made for the North Yorkshire ICT Partnership. The amounts to £7,950,000 since April 2002.

European Constitution

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will make a statement on the effect of the coming into force of the European Constitution on the operation of his Department, with reference to (a) changes in legislative competence, (b) the extension of qualified majority voting, (c) the increased legislative role of the European Parliament, (d) the cost of implementation of regulations, (e) the requirements of adherence to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and (f) the quantity of legislation originating in the EU institutions.

Nick Raynsford: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe on 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 10W.

Gypsies and Travellers

Peter Luff: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will list the registered social landlords involved in providing and managing sites for Gypsies and Travellers.

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	The Government have stated their intention to extend the permissible purposes of the Housing Corporation, which will allow Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to obtain funding for the development and management of Gypsy and Traveller sites.

Gypsies and Travellers

Anthony Steen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what mechanisms have been put in place to enable people to appeal against sites approved for permanent Traveller sites on local authority land; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: There is no third party right of appeal against a local authority decision to grant planning permission irrespective of whether the land is local authority land or privately owned land. It is open to any third party who is aggrieved by a local authority's decision to grant planning permission to apply for judicial review if they believe the decision was wrong in law.
	Interested or third parties have opportunities to make their views known at the formulation stages of development and local plans. They also have the opportunity to make their views known on planning applications and subsequently if the application is called in by the Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister or if the applicant appeals against a local authority's planning decision.

Gypsies and Travellers

Andrew Selous: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Traveller caravans there were on each unauthorised site in South Bedfordshire in (a) July 2004 and (b) July 2003; and whether these figures include those Traveller caravans on unofficial sites owned by Travellers.

Keith Hill: In the South Bedfordshire District there were 19 unauthorised caravans in July 2003, eight on unauthorised encampments and 11 on unauthorised developments of land without planning permission. In July 2004, unauthorised caravans totalled 28, all of these on Gypsies' own land.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the estimated annual cost will be of recruiting and hiring the 7,500 home inspectors to police home information packs.

Keith Hill: Home inspectors will not be recruited by the Government and will not have a role in enforcing the home information pack duties. The majority of the 7,500 to 8,000 home inspectors needed to prepare home condition reports will come initially from existing surveying and related professions and trades. This represents a significant boost to private sector employment and business opportunities. The cost of recruiting home inspectors will be met by the private sector. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is assisting with awareness initiatives aimed at publicising this new career opportunity. A highly successful conference and trade fair held on 25 November in the West Midlands cost £19,000 and was attended by between 800 and 1,000 potential home inspectors.

House Prices (Bassetlaw)

John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average house price is in Bassetlaw; and what it was (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years ago.

Keith Hill: Estimates of average house prices at local authority level are only available back to 1996, with the most recent figures being the provisional figures for Q2 2004. Hence the time series in the table covers a more recent period than that requested.
	
		
			 Period Average price of residential property transactions in Bassetlaw, 1996 to Q2 2004 (£) 
		
		
			 1996 52,693 
			 1998 55,574 
			 2000 67,218 
			 2002 88,576 
			 Q2 2004 119,911 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The above figures exclude purchases by sitting tenants and any other transactions that were believed to be below market value.
	2. For general reference, average property prices for all local authorities in England and Wales may be accessed on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at the following locations:
	Average annual property prices by local authority from 1996:
	http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_housing/documents/page/odpm_house_609380.xls
	Average quarterly property prices by local authority from Q1 1996:
	http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_housing/documents/page/odpm_house_609381.xls
	Source:
	Land Registry

Housing

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have held regarding the stock options appraisal in (i) Bedfordshire, (ii) Hertfordshire, (iii) Cambridgeshire, (iv) Essex, (v) Suffolk and (vi) Norfolk, broken down by local authority area; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: There have been no ministerial meetings held with any of the local authorities in these areas to discuss options appraisal.
	Officials in the Government Office for the East of England, and the Community Housing Taskforce adviser hold meetings with those local authorities in the region who are undertaking a stock options appraisal, and with their tenant representatives, on an ongoing basis to provide support and advice on conducting an effective options appraisal.

Housing

Tom Cox: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average local authority rent charged by authorities within the Greater London area is for (a) a one, (b) a two and (c) a three-bedroom flat.

Keith Hill: The latest available estimates of local authority rents within the Government Office Region of London (equivalent to "Greater London") for the financial year 2003–04 are tabled as follows:
	
		£
		
			 Property type Weekly rent 
		
		
			 One-bedroom flat 56.21 
			 Two-bedroom flat 64.67 
			 Three-bedroom flat 72.06 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures are unaudited.
	2. The rental figures are based on 52 weekly payments per annum.
	Source:
	"Second advance claim forms" submitted by individual local authorities to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
	
		Average local authority rents by dwelling type, 2003–04
		
			 £ per week 
			 Local authority Bedsit One-bedroom flat Two-bedroom flat Three-bedroom flat 
		
		
			  
			 London 49.56 56.09 63.94 70.85 
			 Inner London 49.65 56.21 64.67 72.06 
			 Camden 49.27 61.59 71.00 79.74 
			 City of London 54.37 62.73 69.68 75.06 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 50.21 57.73 64.68 71.72 
			 Hackney 45.74 53.31 56.44 61.69 
			 Haringey 45.95 50.62 57.36 65.40 
			 Islington 51.28 57.37 67.38 73.46 
			 Lambeth 48.40 55.78 62.07 70.23 
			 Lewisham 38.04 50.93 58.29 63.57 
			 Newham 43.16 49.27 58.28 65.40 
			 Southwark 51.57 55.73 58.75 62.63 
			 Tower Hamlets 49.30 57.31 70.01 79.55 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 51.95 63.84 83.19 90.64 
			 Wandsworth 45.25 52.35 76.26 85.05 
			 Westminster 60.00 72.93 87.78 101.05 
			  
			 Outer London 49.38 55.86 62.36 66.57 
			 Barking and Dagenham 55.15 56.01 56.19 56.75 
			 Barnet 45.79 52.71 61.59 67.05 
			 Bexley (10)— (10)— (10)— (10)— 
			 Brent 53.09 60.38 68.30 72.47 
			 Bromley (10)— (10)— (10)— (10)— 
			 Croydon 49.65 57.01 62.15 64.31 
			 Ealing 46.20 57.52 63.79 69.42 
			 Enfield 49.34 56.42 66.78 76.03 
			 Greenwich 54.57 56.43 59.51 62.59 
			 Harrow 63.09 65.85 69.30 72.13 
			 Havering 41.54 44.13 51.34 55.71 
			 Hillingdon 56.60 62.62 71.60 81.90 
			 Hounslow 42.42 52.26 60.73 67.48 
			 Kingston upon Thames 52.32 59.65 66.55 71.19 
			 Redbridge 57.97 64.66 72.79 77.34 
			 Merton 30.66 50.14 56.97 61.76 
			 Richmond upon Thames (10)— (10)— (10)— (10)— 
			 Sutton (11)— (11)— (11)— (11)— 
			 Waltham Forest 36.87 50.32 65.62 80.73 
		
	
	(10) Not applicable (the local authority no longer owns any housing stock).
	(11) No figures received.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are unaudited.
	2. The weekly rental figures are based on 52 weekly payments per year.
	3.
	Source:
	"Second advance claim forms" submitted by local authorities to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Housing

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the fourth option of direct investment in council housing.

Keith Hill: There is no fourth option for providing direct additional investment to local authorities to meet the Decent Homes standard.

Housing

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much rent was paid by council tenants in England in the last year for which figures are available; how much of these receipts was spent on (a) repairs and maintenance and (b) management; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: Data supplied to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister by local authorities in England show for 2003–04:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 Rent due from council tenants 6,245 
			 Major repairs expenditure 1,356 
			 Maintenance expenditure 1,810 
			 Management expenditure 2,092 
		
	
	Each authority has other items of income and expenditure and has a duty to budget to avoid an end of year deficit.

Local Government Finance

David Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what his latest estimate is of the level of central Government financial support for (a) local government and (b) county councils, per head of population for each English county; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: The amount of central Government financial support provided to all local authorities in England in 2004–05 is £58,412 million. This equates to £1,172 per head of population.
	The amount of central Government financial support provided to county councils by head of population in the same period is in the table.
	
		
			  £ per head 
		
		
			 Bedfordshire 722 
			 Buckinghamshire 687 
			 Cambridgeshire 603 
			 Cheshire 698 
			 Cornwall 792 
			 Cumbria 824 
			 Derbyshire 728 
			 Devon 668 
			 Dorset 598 
			 Durham 847 
			 East Sussex 716 
			 Essex 706 
			 Gloucestershire 684 
			 Hampshire 643 
			 Hertfordshire 753 
			 Kent 775 
			 Lancashire 766 
			 Leicestershire 645 
			 Lincolnshire 791 
			 Norfolk 723 
			 North Yorkshire 699 
			 Northamptonshire 792 
			 Northumberland 824 
			 Nottinghamshire 756 
			 Oxfordshire 698 
			 Shropshire 699 
			 Somerset 706 
			 Staffordshire 707 
			 Suffolk 726 
			 Surrey 611 
			 Warwickshire 684 
			 West Sussex 625 
			 Wiltshire 638 
			 Worcestershire 666 
		
	
	Information has been supplied for county councils only and therefore excuses unitary authorities, shire districts, and police and fire authorities within the county boundary.
	The all-England data for local government support include special and specific grants inside "Aggregate External Finance", police grant, Revenue support grant, redistributed non-domestic rates and general Greater London Authority (GLA) grant.
	The data for county council support include special and specific grants inside "Aggregate External Finance", Revenue support grant and redistributed non-domestic rates but not police grant or general GLA grant as they are not payable to county councils.
	The figures for the county councils will not necessarily be comparable with each other because those which did not undergo a reorganisation between April 1995 and April 1998 will include support for fire expenditure, whereas those which did undergo a reorganisation will exclude such support.
	Similarly they will not be comparable with the total figure for England as the latter includes support for all tiers of English local government.
	The data are taken from the Revenue Account (budget) form for 2004–05—these forms are completed each year by individual local authorities.

Mersey Crossing

Graham Stringer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the contribution that a new Mersey crossing may make to the economic growth of the north-west.

Keith Hill: The Department for Transport is expecting a full appraisal to be submitted by the end of this week. This should comprehensively assess the benefits of the proposal against the Government's key transport criteria of integration, economy, environment, safety and accessibility. Until the submission has been reviewed, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not able to comment on the robustness of the economic case presented. The timing of any decision will depend on our assessment of the appraisal and the issues that it raises.

Planning

Nick Gibb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what account he takes of commercial factors in determining planning matters.

Keith Hill: The Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, set out his general approach to planning matters in Planning Policy Guidance Note PPG1: General Policy and Principles.
	This policy includes the consideration of commercial factors, and states that a sustainable planning framework should provide for the nation's needs for commercial development, while respecting environmental objectives. It needs to be positive in promoting competitiveness while being protective towards the environment and amenity.
	Development plans should encourage new enterprise and investment by setting out clear land-use policies for industrial and commercial development.
	It is important that the locational needs of businesses are taken into account in the preparation of development plans. In defining suitable locations for development, plan policies should take into account:
	the contribution to regenerating existing urban areas;
	access to customers;
	access to raw materials and suppliers;
	links with the other businesses and the special needs of small businesses;
	the workforce catchment area;
	the availability of adequate infrastructure; and
	various transport considerations including the particular needs of the freight industry.

Planning

Patsy Calton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what advice he was given by (a) the Secretary of State for Health and (b) the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as a result of the consultation on the preparation of Planning Policy Statement 23: Planning and Pollution Control.

Keith Hill: Planning Policy Statement 23: Planning and Pollution Control reflects the agreement of the Secretaries of State for Health and for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Planning

Patsy Calton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the purposes of (a) Planning Policy Statement 23 and (b) its annex on the development of land affected by contamination.

Keith Hill: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made on 3 November 2004 when I published PPS23, Official Report, column 9WS.

Priority Estates Project

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much sponsorship of the Priority Estates Project cost his Office in (a) the financial year 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister paid the Priority Estates Project, by way of grants and other payments, the following amounts: £727,857 in 2002–03 and £1,020,963 in 2003–04 (both amounts include VAT).

Regional Assemblies

Hugo Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, 
	(1)  what the running costs of each of the existing regional assemblies were in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how much his Department contributed to the regional assemblies in the last year for which figures are available;
	(3)  whether legislation is required to disband the existing regional assemblies;
	(4)  what discussions he has had with officials concerning the dismantling of the regional assemblies;

Nick Raynsford: The total level of Government grant paid to the existing regional assemblies in 2003–04 is as follows:
	
		
			  £million 
		
		
			 East 1,874,000 
			 East Midlands 1,631,000 
			 North East 1,408,000 
			 North West 1,837,000 
			 South East 2,186,000 
			 South West 1,613,000 
			 West Midlands 1,671,000 
			 Yorkshire and the Humberside 1,655,000 
			 English Regions Network 200,000 
			 Total Office of the Deputy 14,075,000 
		
	
	No details are kept centrally on the running costs of the assemblies.
	The existing assemblies are voluntary bodies designated to undertake certain functions and no legislation would be necessary should any assembly decide to disband. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has not had any discussions with officials on the dismantling of assemblies.

Right to Buy

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average (a) purchase price of and (b) discount applied to a right to buy (i) flat and (ii) house was in each region in England in (A) 1997 and (B) the last year for which figures are available.

Keith Hill: Average right-to-buy selling price (net of discount) and discount figures for each of the Government Office regions are shown in the table.
	
		£000
		
			  (a) Selling price (net of discount) (b) Discount 
		
		
			  House Flat House Flat (A) 1997–98 
			  
			 North east 16.2 9.6 15.0 15.4 
			 North west 18.4 9.8 16.8 20.7 
			 Yorkshire/ Humber 18.1 11.0 15.9 16.6 
			 East Midlands 18.0 9.9 15.9 15.5 
			 West Midlands 19.3 11.0 17.6 16.8 
			 East 25.7 13.8 24.4 20.4 
			 London 33.2 21.4 30.9 31.1 
			 South east 29.1 15.5 27.3 24.1 
			 South west 21.5 11.8 19.9 20.1 
			  
			 (B) 2003–04 
			 North east 24.3 15.2 17.5 15.4 
			 North west 26.6 15.6 19.7 17.5 
			 Yorkshire/ Humber 24.5 17.3 18.1 18.5 
			 East Midlands 38.0 24.8 22.0 21.1 
			 West  Midlands 35.2 22.1 22.6 22.4 
			 East 63.6 43.8 31.0 32.3 
			 London 106.5 75.4 34.6 38.0 
			 South east 81.2 50.5 36.8 34.8 
			 South west 54.8 34.4 28.6 27.9

Standards Board

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what budget was allocated to the Standards Board for England in each of the last two years; and how many staff were employed by the Standards Board for England in each of those years.

Nick Raynsford: The information requested in respect of the last two complete financial years is in the table.
	
		
			  Grant paid to the Standards Board for England (£million) Number of staff employed by the Standards Board for England at the end of the year 
		
		
			 2002–03 6.514 105 
			 2003–04 8.944 122

Superstores

Liam Byrne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what research he has collated on the impact of new superstores on surrounding retail facilities; and if he will place it in the Library.

Keith Hill: The then Department of Environment Transport and the Regions commissioned The Impact of Large Foodstores on Market Towns and District Centres, published in September 1998, which looked specifically at the impact of large edge-of-centre and out-of-town foodstores.
	Together with Marks and Spencer plc and the British Council for Shopping Centres Educational Trust, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funded research by the National Regional Planning Forum on secondary shopping areas. The report, The Role and Vitality of Secondary Shopping—a New Direction by CB Richard Ellis, published earlier this month, includes an assessment of the impact of superstores on the secondary shopping areas of large towns as well as district centres and small town centres.
	A copy of each of these reports has been placed in the Library of the House.

Town Centres

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action his Department is taking to discourage the domination of town centres by larger store groups.

Keith Hill: The Government's objectives for town centres and retail development, include sustaining and enhancing the vitality and viability of town centres and maintaining an efficient, competitive and innovative retail sector. The Government are strongly committed to ensuring that town centres act as the focus of development, so as to provide easy access to a wide range of facilities and services by a choice of means of transport but it is for the market to determine what form that investment takes.
	However, it is not the role of the planning system to restrict competition, preserve existing commercial interests or to prevent innovation.